The Hexley Hall Game Day Challenge
by jolly roger brat
Summary: Game Day at Hexley Hall turns out to be anything but fun when an old enemy of Sofia's resurfaces and is out to cause trouble for her and her friends.
1. Chapter 1

The royal family of Orillia was spending some time together in the castle gardens. Royal Prep was out for the summer, and the family had just come back from a vacation. They needed the time to relax; Ezekiel, the oldest of the royal siblings, had tried to take over Orillia, and he was now in Azkaban. They had hoped that some time together would be good for them, and it seemed to have worked; everyone was feeling better after all their adventures. Now King Robert and Queen Patricia were watching as their daughter Sandra was teaching her sister Zoe a few magic tricks.

"Okay, Zoe, we have a few minutes before your magic lesson, so I'll teach you a few tricks you can use, and you can surprise Aleena with them," Sandra said as she handed Zoe her training wand. "You already know some of the more basic spells the fairies and Aleena taught you. But this one," she said as she raised her 12-and-a-half-inch hawthorn and phoenix feather wand, "Is one everyone should know. Just think of a really happy memory and use this spell…" She concentrated, aimed her wand in front of her, and chanted, _"Expecto patronum!"_

However, she got a surprise when they saw the silver creature that came out of her wand. She had always summoned a cat, but this time, a long, sleek creature emerged. "What—where's my kitty?" Sandra asked, using a phrase she and her father often used when playing with her cat Ambre.

"That's odd," Patricia said from where she was watching them. "It looks like your Patronus changed."

"What is it?" Zoe asked.

"I don't know, but it looks familiar," Sandra replied.

"I'd say talk to Aleena about this, but she's preparing to visit her father at Mystic Meadows after Zoe's lesson, then they're both going to attend the week-long Magic Festival and conference in Tangu," Robert agreed. "And Sandra, that's a mink."

"Oh! Like Princess Hildegard's pet!" Sandra realized. She had met Hildegard's pet mink when she had been at Enchancia Castle for a sleepover.

"Why would your Patronus change?" Zoe asked.

"Let's see…The fairies, Zanven, and Aleena all told me that a Patronus can change if the person experienced some kind of traumatic event," Sandra recalled, "And I think having Zeke try to take over Orillia, then being sent to Azkaban would count as a traumatic event."

"Now that you mention it, Aleena used to conjure an eagle as her Patronus. The last time she produced it, which happened a few days after Ezekiel's sentencing, she saw that it had changed into a swan," Robert told her.

"Well, no matter what shape your Patronus is, I'm sure everyone will like it," Patricia assured her.

"Yes they will. And I've got a surprise for you," Robert added. "Though Royal Prep is closed for the summer, Hexley Hall is still open. And not only are they having their monthly Game Day today, but for two weeks, those who are interested get to attend workshops to learn new spells, fighting skills, and magical techniques." He smiled at Sandra's interested look. "They even get to be sorted, as if they actually attended."

"How cool is that! I'm in!" Sandra grinned.

"Can I go too?" Zoe asked.

Robert and Patricia looked hesitant. A lot of the students who attended Hexley Hall were older than Zoe, but Sandra said that there were a few young students, Enchancia's former sorcerer Cedric's niece Callista among them.

"All right, but stay close to Sandra," Patricia agreed.

"But my friend Shawna told me when I went there for my first Game Day that Hexley Hall sorts its students. What if we're sorted into different houses?" Sandra asked. "I mean, I will keep an eye on her, but we don't know that many people who actually go there. Shawna goes there, of course, and I know Sofia's friends Ruby and Jade go there too, and some of our friends attend part time, but that's it."

"Sandra, Mommy, Daddy, please?" Zoe asked.

"If you're sure about this, then yes," Patricia agreed at last, Robert nodding next to her.

"Well, okay," Sandra agreed as the Royal Sorceress came up to them. After Zoe's magic lesson, the girls packed some things they'd need for the trip. After they loaded the coach, Sandra suggested, "And how about if you and I go there in real style?"

"You mean-?" Zoe gasped.

"Cloud and Phoenix do like going on adventures," Sandra grinned as she led their horses out. She boosted Zoe onto Cloud, swung herself up on Phoenix, and the girls were off, with Robert and Patricia riding behind them in the coach.

At the same moment, a royal coach from Enchancia was landing at Hexley Hall and dropping some of the passengers off. Some of the horses who had helped pull it were also unhitched.

"This is going to be brilliant!" James cheered as he, Sofia, Dorrie, Candice, Lucinda, and Amber stepped off the coach and led their respective horses Echo, Minimus, Chestnut, Holly, Thunderbolt, and Saffron out. The group thought they were also going to do some practicing for a flying derby meet, as well as participate in Game Day.

"Well, you seem happier this time," Sofia smiled, knowing that James hadn't been too keen on being at Camp Wilderwood, and the recent family vacation, but she was happy that he seemed to be feeling better about this new trip.

"Why not? You know how good I am at word games," James replied.

"Good?" Lucinda smirked. "James, you're not good at word games." When she saw James' hurt expression, she grinned and said, "You're, dare I say it, _brilliant_ at word games!"

James smirked. "Well played, Lucy!"

"I learned from the best!" Lucinda smiled as she hugged him, causing James to blush.

They were cut off by other Game Day participants approaching. Sofia looked up and saw two more of their friends come up. She waved them over. "Sandra! Zoe! Over here!"

"Hi, everyone," Sandra greeted them as she and Zoe approached. "Thanks again for letting us sleep over at your castle. Zoe had a lot of fun with Callista, and she taught her some new tricks. Those were some Aleena's never seen before, and she wrote them down to use in the future."

"What are you doing here? We're going to watch James mop the floor with the competition in Hexley Hall's word challenges," Amber added.

"And participate ourselves in the other Game Day challenges!" Candice grinned.

Sandra grinned back. "That's going to be fun, and he's going to have some stiff competition, myself included, but didn't King Roland and Queen Miranda tell you? Not only is Hexley Hall having a special Game Day this afternoon, but those who are interested get to attend workshops here for the next two weeks. They get to be sorted and everything!"

"Surprise!" Roland grinned at the groups' astonished looks as the coachmen unloaded some trunks. "And Dorrie, Candice, Violet gave you permission to attend as well."

"Baileywick told us about this after King Robert and Queen Patricia picked your friends up," Miranda smiled. "We thought we'd surprise you."

"Brilliant! We'll get to see Wendell again," James grinned. "He told me that he attends Hexley Hall, but I forgot what House he's in."

"Wendell? You mean that jerk who stole Phoenix goes here?" Sandra asked as Sofia explained who Wendell was to Roland and Miranda.

"Isn't he also that jerk who stole Saffron, Minimus, and Echo?" Lucinda added; Sofia, James, and Amber having told her about the first time they met him.

"Yes, but he's changed," Sofia assured them, and she, James, and Amber told Lucinda, Zoe and Sandra about how they had met their former enemy at Camp Wilderwood, then how he and James had helped win the Inter-camp flag race against the Junior Knights. (Even though James said that they got stuck together by chance; "the wicked wizard and the kid with itching ivy.")

"If you guys are sure, I guess I can give him the benefit of the doubt," Sandra decided.

"Me too," Lucinda agreed.

"So can we," Roland added, Miranda nodding at his side. "Of course, we never met him ourselves, but you did tell us quite a few stories about him. However, it is nice that you all became friends."

Sandra then looked at Sofia's amulet, which was pinkish-red instead of the familiar purple. "But on a different note, Sof, is that necklace new?"

Sofia grinned. "Sandy, I think you and Zoe had better sit down!" When Zoe and Sandra were seated, Sofia told them all about their adventure in Avalor, and how she had freed Princess Elena, who had been trapped inside the amulet.

"And according to the sign-up sheet, it looks like Princess Isabel is attending these workshops too," Amber observed, looking over the list of names.

"Yes! Princess Isabel is Elena's sister," Sofia explained, seeing Sandra's questioning look. "You'll like her."

When it was time for the sorting ceremony, the Headmistress of Hexley Hall, Gayle Lovegood, made a welcome speech to everyone, then explained about the different Houses: Kennicot, Pepperton, Stryker, and Waldgrave. She then put the school's sorting hat on a stool, and invited those who were temporarily attending to come up.

"I think I know what house we'll be sorted into," James murmured to Amber, who smiled back.

As James had predicted, he and Amber were sorted into Pepperton House. This was the house that their mother and her sister had been connected to when they attended Hexley Hall, since they were descendants of Alex Pepperton. As they walked over to the other members of Pepperton House, they smiled at each other as they remembered how the sorting hat chose them for Pepperton.

 _Flashback_

 _James had been first to be sorted, and as soon as the sorting hat was on his head, he heard the voice say, "Aha! A creative mind, good for Waldgrave House, but what's this I see? Courage, bravery, a thirst to prove yourself…wait…The son of Melinda Pepperton, who was descended from Hexley Hall founder Alex Pepperton! Therefore, it's only fitting that you go into…PEPPERTON HOUSE! And it looks like music will be returning to Hexley Hall!"_

 _When it was Amber's turn, the sorting hat said, "Well, not only do I get to sort the son, but also the daughter of Melinda Pepperton, who was descended from Hexley Hall founder Alex Pepperton! I know just what to do with you…PEPPERTON HOUSE!"_

 _End flashback_

Sofia was also sorted into Pepperton House, and she couldn't be happier that she was with her friends and siblings. She, James, and Amber went over to Dorrie, Candice, and Lucinda, who were already members of Pepperton House. Sofia's friends Ruby and Jade were also there for Game Day, and the workshops, and they were also associated with that House.

When it was her turn to be sorted, Sandra was sorted into Waldgrave House. Dorrie and Candice grinned at each other, remembering a conversation the three of them had had once about the houses. Sandra caught their knowing looks and joked, "What did I tell you?"

When Zoe went up, she was sorted into Stryker House. She was sad at first that she wouldn't be with Sandra, but Sofia assured her that this was the house that Callista was in, and Dorrie said she'd be there in a little while, since she wanted to finish up some business at the castle.

Sandra told them that her friend Shawna was in that house as well. "Besides, you know Shawna," she said, hoping to comfort her sister, "She sometimes comes over and plays with your hair when Mom and Dad announce a formal event. Maybe she'll do that here, too."

"She was with you when you were a Tulip Scout, right?" Sofia asked, remembering some stories they had shared.

"That's right, and she's a Tulip Scout aide now, just like I am for the Buttercups. But we are both Lily Scouts, too," Sandra explained.

Everyone who was sorted each received a goodie bag containing their house T-shirts, papers with information on the houses, and pens, pencils, and stationery.

As she watched Zoe going over to Callista, who had arrived a few minutes after the sorting had begun, Sandra looked for her fellow Waldgrave House housemates when she bumped into a boy. "Sorry," she apologized.

"No harm done," the boy smiled, offering her a hand. "Welcome to Hexley Hall. My name's Wendell."

Sandra looked up at the familiar name and accent. "You!" she aimed her wand at Wendell as she assumed a dueling position. "I ought to hex you and hex you good for what you did to Phoenix, but my friends say you changed, and I promised them I'd give you the benefit of the doubt! But I warn you: Phoenix is staying in Hexley Hall's stables, as is my sister's horse Cloud, and my friends' horses, and if you pull anything at all on any of them, I'll-"

"Point well taken," Wendell gasped, remembering how they'd first met, and his first duel with her; she hadn't been too bad for her first duel against a wizard, and if they got to know each other, he might teach her some tricks. "I was just going to find the other Stryker House people."

"Well, my sister Zoe's over there, and she and her friend Callista, and my friend Shawna are also in Stryker," Sandra pointed over at Zoe, Callista, and a girl with dark skin and light hair around her own age who was giving Zoe a hug. "And if you mess with any of them, you will answer to me." She put her wand at her side and extended her hand. "Sorry about that…let's say we start over. I'm Zoe's sister Sandra, and new member of Waldgrave House."

Sofia and their friends came up at that moment. "Are you okay, Wendell?" Sofia asked, having seen Wendell being held at wandpoint, and recalling Sandra's first meeting with him as well.

"I'm fine now," Wendell replied. "One word of advice though: Don't get on this girl's bad side!"

"Give her time," James advised. "You and Sandra will be friends before you know it."

Wendell smiled. He was always up for a challenge. Little did anyone know a new challenge would present itself to everyone.

 **Author's Notes**

 **Dorrie and Candice Cooper, their horses Chestnut and Holly, and Gayle Lovegood are characters of Niagara14301 and are used with permission. (Gayle Lovegood replaced Headmaster Grimtrix Truesdale in chapter 13 of Niagara14301's Dorrie Book 2.)**

 **Kennicott, Pepperton, Stryker, and Waldgrave, the four houses at Hexley Hall, are mentioned in Niagara14301's Dorrie Book 2. And fun fact, James and Amber's birth mother Queen Melinda, and her sister Claire, attended Hexley Hall and were connected to Pepperton House, so they would also be connected to that house.**

 **Shawna is an original character of mine, and was referenced in my stories Pet Stories and The Rise and Fall of Eze Grey.**

 **Wendell is from Minimus is Missing, but he reformed in Camp Wilderwood. He was also the antagonist in my story A Puzzling Mystery Weekend (that story was published before Camp Wilderwood aired). Wendell being a member of Stryker House is from chapter 13 of Niagara14301's Dorrie Book Two.**

 **Tulip and Lily Scouts were first mentioned in Niagara14301's story Dorrie.**

 **Princess Isabel is in Elena of Avalor, and was seen in Sofia and the Secret of Avalor.**

 **James' bad experience with camp is from Camp Wilderwood, and his bad experience with a vacation is from Royal Vacation.**

 **Sandra's experience with Wendell is from A Puzzling Mystery Weekend, and her knowing about Hexley Hall's houses is from chapter 10 of my story The Rise and Fall of Eze Gray.**

 **Readers of the Harry Potter books will remember that in book 6, Tonks' Patronus had changed due to her love of Remus Lupin. Patronuses can also change when the person casting it suffers a traumatic event. Also, while members of a family can go in the same house (the Weasleys all went into Gryffindor), sometimes they go into different houses (in the books, Parvati Patil is in Gryffindor, while her sister Padma is in Ravenclaw; in the Goblet of Fire movie they're both in Gryffindor).**


	2. Chapter 2

**A quick disclaimer before we begin: I do not own any of the songs in this chapter; they belong to their respective artists.**

Everyone watched as the rest of the people in line were sorted. Sofia and her friends decided to stay together until the first game was announced, and they knew where to go. As they watched those in line go to the stool and get sorted, they saw a girl with dark hair and a blue dress. Dorrie, Candice, Sofia, James, and Amber smiled. This was Isabel, Elena's sister, whom they'd met when they went to Avalor.

"Come on, give her something good," James silently willed the sorting hat.

"PEPPERTON HOUSE!" the sorting hat announced, and the Pepperton House group cheered.

"That good enough for you, James?" Candice joked over the applause.

"It sure is!" James joked back.

"Isabel! Over here!" Sofia waved.

Isabel smiled as she went over to Sofia and her friends. Her grandparents and sister were right behind her.

"Elena!" Sofia waved in greeting.

Elena smiled as she came over and hugged her. "It's good to see you again, Sofia. Isa's been looking forward to coming to this Game Day and these workshops for several days."

"It's going to be a lot of fun," Dorrie smiled; she, Candice, and Violet had been to Avalor following Sofia's adventure to help the staff learn what to do.

"Elena, you know Dorrie and Candice, and you met my sister Amber and my brother James, but this is my other sister Lucinda, our former Royal Sorcerer's niece Callista, and our friends Zoe and Sandra from Orillia," Sofia spoke up, introducing everyone. She smiled as Sandra raised her dagger, which she'd also brought with her, in a salute. Her smile widened as she motioned Wendell to come forward. "and this is James, Amber, and my friend Wendell."

"It's nice to meet all of you," Elena smiled. "This is my grandfather Francisco, and my grandmother Luisa."

"It's an honor to meet you," Lucinda said as she came up. "I'm Sofia's other sister Lucinda. I wasn't with the family when they went to Avalor, since I had business to attend to at Enchancia Castle. I met with Annora the Witch Queen, and we discussed a mutual magical security of both Enchancia, and Annora's witch territory. Sofia did, however, tell me all about you, and her adventures, when the family returned. And if you agree to it, I will send Queen Annora a message asking her to extend the security she offered Enchancia to you and Avalor as well."

"That's a very generous offer, Princess Lucinda," Elena smiled. "I look forward to meeting Queen Annora."

"Witches?" Luisa asked.

"Some witches, like Queen Annora and myself, are white, or good witches," Lucinda assured her. "Annora and her forces will be Avalor's allies in times of trouble."

"That's good to hear," Francisco agreed. "And it will be interesting meeting her. We've never met witches until now."

"You'll enjoy meeting Queen Annora," Lucinda smiled. "She's very wise, and her help will be very useful when she and her allies are needed."

When it was time to go, Sandra led Zoe and Callista to the Stryker group, said hello to Shawna, and went to find the Waldgrave group. At the same time, as she watched from the stage, Miss Lovegood let everyone mingle for a few minutes, then called everyone together for the first game.

"Now that we all know each other, let's get the ball rolling! Our first challenge is Musical Word Duel," Miss Lovegood said as she brought out a CD player. "Would two of you come up and demonstrate how to play?"

"Musical Word Duel?" Sofia asked.

"Oh, that's fun," Dorrie grinned. "As the song plays, you have to unscramble the different words to solve the puzzle."

"That sounds easy enough," Amber started.

"You'd think that, but as the puzzles get harder, you find it hard to concentrate on the words and start singing along with the music, like you're taking a break from the puzzle and try again in a moment. The first person who gives up on the puzzle loses," Dorrie explained.

"I love Musical Word Duel! When we play this at Royal Prep in my Music Appreciation class, I always help my team win!" James cheered before he bounded up the steps. He was surprised to see Sandra already waiting for him.

"Took you long enough to get up here. Musical Word Duel is one of my favorite games!" Sandra grinned. "I always beat the knights when they challenge me!"

James grinned as he found a CD and put it in the CD player. "Okay, but we're both squires. And do you think you have what it takes to beat me now?"

"Oh please. This is another song the knights in Orillia train with! We aren't just raised on folk music; we know how to rock!" Sandra smirked as she recognized the song.

"Well then, if you're so confident, you'll face me in a little game!" James smirked back.

"To which I say, bring it on!" Sandra grinned as she started to sing and unscramble the different words.

Sandra: _I hear the drums echoing tonight  
But he hears only whispers of some quiet conversation  
He's coming in, 12:30 flight  
The moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation_

James grinned back as he started working on the puzzle and singing the song with her.

James: _I stopped an old man along the way  
Hoping to find some long-forgotten words or ancient melodies  
He turned to me as if to say, "Hurry boy, it's waiting there for you"_

James and Sandra: _It's gonna take a lot to take me away from you  
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do  
I bless the rains down in Africa  
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had_

James: _The wild dogs cry out in the night  
As they grow restless, longing for some solitary company_

Sandra: _I know that I must do what's right  
As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti  
I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become_

James and Sandra: _It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you  
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do  
I bless the rains down in Africa  
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had_

James and Sandra solved the puzzles, then started on a bonus one Miss Lovegood set up.

James and Sandra: _Hurry boy/now, she's/he's waiting there for you_

James: _It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you  
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do_

Sandra: _I bless the rains down in Africa_

James: _I bless the rains down in Africa  
(I bless the rain)_

Sandra: _I bless the rains down in Africa  
(I bless the rain)_

James: _I bless the rains down in Africa_

James and Sandra: _I bless the rains down in Africa  
(Ah, gonna take the time)_

 _Gonna take some time to do the things we never had_

Over the whoops and cheering for the song, everyone saw that the puzzle had been solved.

"Great job, James. Sandra was good too," Sofia said as James came back to her.

"We solved it after the second chorus. But we did a victory lap with the rest of the song," James grinned.

Miss Lovegood also grinned as she came up. "Well, after that performance, what can I say but, twenty points each to Pepperton and Waldgrave!"

Suddenly, they heard a slow round of applause. "Oh yes, well played. You both sang well, and young man, you do your mother proud; I always loved hearing Melinda's voice as she sang in the halls on the way to classes." Everyone looked up, and saw the former Headmaster of Hexley Hall, Grimtrix Truesdale. "Now, it's my turn to have some fun at Game Day." He aimed his wand at the groups and fired off several beams of light. Several people shrieked and yelled as they tried to take cover, but some were hit and went stiff or fell to the ground.

 _"Protego!"_ Dorrie, Candice, and Lucinda used Shield charms to protect a few of the people around them. There were a lot of people, but they did the best they could.

When he saw that Zoe was about to be hit by a beam of light, Wendell pushed her out of harm's way. "Miss Zoe! Look out!" he shouted.

"Thank you! I'll take her somewhere safe!" Shawna called as she caught Zoe's arm.

"Thanks, Shawna! Isabel! Heads up!" Sandra yelled, pushing Isabel away just as she and Wendell were hit by a beam of light.

When the light cleared, Miss Lovegood had Hexley Hall security start searching the grounds for Grimtrix.

Meanwhile, Sofia, Dorrie, Candice, and Lucinda were making the rounds, checking to see if everyone was all right.

Lucinda saw that Zoe and Isabel were standing a few feet away from Wendell and Sandra, who were lying close together on the ground. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"We're both fine," Isabel nodded.

"I'm okay, but Sandra was hit by something," Zoe pointed at her sister, who was starting to stir.

"Sandy! Are you okay?" Lucinda asked.

Sandra looked around. "Lucy?" she asked. She and Wendell both stood up, and their hands were still touching. They tried to pull apart, but it didn't do any good.

"Ah, the old 'stick together' hex…this takes me back," Wendell smiled fondly, "But I think this joke is funnier when _I'm_ doing the casting!"

"You don't say!" Sandra grumbled, but she changed her tune and smirked. "But the joke's on Truesdale; I can still use my right hand!"

"I'm ambidextrous myself," Wendell agreed, "But how can we undo this spell?"

"We'll find a way, don't worry," Sofia assured him.

Meanwhile, Amber was kneeling next to James, who had also been hit with one of the beams of light as he tried to protect her. "James, are you okay?"

James looked up, and as he looked around, Amber was stunned to see tears streaming down his face. "What was I thinking? Why did I do that when I promised not to anymore?" He buried his face in his arms and started crying. Lucinda, Sofia and Amber were shocked, but their sisterly nature took over and they started to try and comfort him.

"James, what happened?" Sofia asked.

"Mom…I was singing…I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!" James kept chanting.

"James, it's okay! You've been singing in public for months now! Mother said she never held you to what you said!" Amber said as she patted his back.

"What's the matter? Why can't James sing in public?" Wendell asked as he and Sandra came up.

"I know why, since Sofia and Amber told me, but I thought he and I sounded good when we played that game," Sandra agreed.

"We'll let James tell you about this, Wendell; right now, we have to help him," Sofia said as she rubbed James' shoulders.

Suddenly, they heard a new voice. "Maybe I can help," Everyone looked up, and saw Vivian, who was also attending the workshops and Game Day, and had been made a member of Waldgrave House along with Sandra. She came over to James and hugged him as well. She then took a wand out of her pocket and waved it over him, just like Dorrie, Candice, and Lucinda did when they scanned someone for traces of magic.

"Wait a minute. Vivian, since when do you do magic and use a wand?" Sandra asked; she'd been sick on Hexley Hall's Prank Day when Kurt, Elliott, and Amy had pranked Royal Prep, but Sofia had told her everything, including how Vivian had helped save everyone.

"Since my mother and I are members of the House of Revargia," Vivian smiled. Dorrie and Candice nodded; they were familiar with the well-known house belonging to a powerful magical family of sorcerers and sorceresses. After a few moments, Vivian looked up. "Just as I thought. Truesdale cast a memory charm on James, making him relive the worst time of his life. Luckily, I know how to reverse it."

"How?" Lucinda asked.

Vivian smiled. "My mother told me about this once," she tapped James on the shoulder to get his attention, and when he looked up, she kissed him. Almost instantly, James' tears stopped flowing, he stopped chanting "I'm sorry…it's all my fault" and his mind cleared. As everyone looked at Vivian in amazement, she smiled and said, "What? In fairy tales, curses and spells are often broken with a kiss!" She turned serious. "But for the spell to truly be broken, he has to face the memory. In this case, sing the song."

"Can other people sing it with him?" Amber asked, recalling how she and James were supposed to originally sing that song together.

"Of course," Vivian replied as she watched Candice bring over the CD player, and Dorrie found a box of CDs.

"That's good, Vivian, but James, are you all right?" Sofia asked.

James smiled as he took Vivian in his arms. "Let's put it this way, Sof," he replied. He found the song he was looking for, put it in the CD player, and began to sing.

 _I don't take my whiskey to extremes  
Don't believe in chasin' crazy dreams  
My feet are planted firmly on the ground  
But darlin' when you come around_

Amber smiled as she joined him on the chorus.

 _I get carried away by the look by the light in your eyes  
Before I even realize the ride I'm on  
Baby I'm long gone  
I get carried away nothin' matters but bein' with you  
Like a feather flyin' high up in the sky on a windy day  
I get carried away_

As James kissed Vivian's forehead and danced with her, Amber took the next verse.

 _It might seem like an ordinary night  
Same ol' stars, the same ol' moon up high  
But when I see you standin' at your door  
Nothin's ordinary anymore_

James smiled as he sang with her again. He also smiled at Dorrie and Candice, who were smiling with tears in their eyes. He knew Violet had told them everything about how he used to feel about singing in public, and how he performed this song as The Secret Singer.

 _I get carried away by the look by the light in your eyes  
Before I even realize the ride I'm on  
Baby I'm long gone  
I get carried away nothin' matters but bein' with you  
Like a feather flyin' high up in the sky on a windy day  
I get carried away_

As he smiled at the teary smile Vivian was giving him, James finished the song.

 _I get carried away nothin' matters but bein' with you  
Like a feather flyin' high up in the sky on a windy day  
I get carried away_

 _Carried away_

Like he did the last time he sang this, he embraced Vivian, and as he broke away, he kissed her hand.

"You're such a showman," Amber smiled.

"I always forget that this song makes me cry!" Vivian said as she sobbed gently into her handkerchief.

"That's okay, Vivian, but James, Queen Melinda would be so proud," Dorrie agreed, putting an arm around her.

"She said she was," James smiled softly, recalling how she had come to him.

"Yes, well, that was well done, James, and I hate to break up this very touching moment, but we still have a problem," Wendell spoke up.

"I'll say!" Sandra added, she and Wendell holding up their conjoined hands.

"Sandra, I'll help you," Zoe spoke up.

"Zoe, I don't think it's a good idea to get closer. You might get stuck too," Sandra shook her head. "And do you remember the story Mom used to tell you about the golden goose?"

"The one where the people kept getting stuck to each other if they came near the bird?" Sofia asked, recalling a story Miranda used to tell her.

Sandra nodded. "That's the one. We don't need to start a conga line; we need to find a way to break this spell."

Now that he had recovered from the spell and was feeling better, James grinned as he took Amber's shoulders. "Come on, Sandra; everyone likes a conga line!" He started dancing behind her and pressing down on her shoulders, only to have Amber shrug him off, and he fell to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Dorrie asked as she helped him up.

"Now that he has his sense of humor back and the spell's been lifted, he'll be fine," Amber assured her.

"That's good, but unfortunately, there's another problem," Candice spoke up. She pointed to some of the groups, and everyone saw that they were trapped in large crystals.

"Why didn't we notice this before?" Lucinda demanded.

"We were all worried about James, and helping him," Sofia assured her.

They made their way around the people in the crystals. Sofia looked sad when she saw that Callista was among those trapped.

Sandra felt the same way when she saw Shawna trapped with her. "Truesdale's going to pay for this," she said as she whipped her wand out. "Nobody messes with my friends!"

"You mean you and I are actually…friends?" Wendell asked, hoping to lighten the mood.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Sandra frowned at their connected hands, but she managed a half smile at Wendell.

"But how will we free everyone?" Amber asked.

"There's only one way to do that," Dorrie replied, "Hexley Hall's library. Let's go."

 **Author's Notes**

 **Thanks to Niagara14301 for helping with some of the details in this chapter.**

 **The song James and Sandra sang in Musical Word Duel was _Africa_ by Toto, which is not mine.**

 **Elena, Isabel, Francisco, and Luisa are from Elena and the Secret of Avalor and Elena of Avalor.**

 **Kurt, Elliott, and Amy, and Hexley Hall's Prank Day, was seen in the episode Substitute Cedric.**

 **Vivian being a member of the House of Revargia is noted in Niagara14301's The Storm.**

 **George Strait's _Carried Away_ is not mine, and can be found in chapter 9 of my story The Day the Music Died, and chapter 6 of my story The Secret Love Song.**

 **The story James and Sandra were talking about was The Golden Goose by the Brothers Grimm.**


	3. Chapter 3

As the group made its way inside Hexley Hall, Sandra asked, "Zoe, what happened out there? Don't get me wrong; I'm glad you're okay, but I thought you, Callista, and Shawna were somewhere safe."

"I wanted to stay and help, but Shawna said that I only have a training wand, and I'm still learning the basic spells that you, the fairies, and Aleena teach me," Zoe explained. "We stayed close to the tree line, and tried to make our way inside where we'd be safer."

"That's good," Dorrie smiled, "So what happened?"

"We saw people getting hit with all kinds of lights," Zoe replied, "Shawna told me to stay where I was, while she and Callista went to help everyone. I saw Shawna get hit with a ball of light as she was trying to protect Callista, but before I hid, I heard a really pretty song and I wanted to stay and hear it."

"It's okay, Zoe, and at least you stayed out of sight. You heard James and Amber singing it. He got hit by a beam of light, too, and to break the spell he was under, he had to sing that song," Sofia explained.

"That's the song the Secret Singer sang at the same talent show Sandra sang in. Wait a minute, that means that _James_ was the Secret Singer!" Zoe remembered. She looked at her sister. "But you were hit by a spell too. Are you okay?"

"Oh, sure; I'm fine," Sandra smirked, "I just have a wizard growing out of my hand…Zoe, you remember Wendell!" Wendell gave her a little wave. "But at the same time he pushed you, I pushed Isabel away from another light. Where did she go?"

"Here," Isabel said as she caught up to them. "After you pushed me away, I ran toward the building. I stayed just inside the door, since I don't know my way around this place."

"Don't worry; we'll show you around," Dorrie spoke up, Candice nodding at her side.

The group entered the building, and as they walked along, Lucinda caught movement out of the corner of her eye. A long sleek shape was scampering through the shadows. "Wriggley?" she wondered. "What's she still doing here?"

"Wriggley?" Sandra asked.

"Truesdale's pet weasel," Lucinda explained. "Sofia told me that Wormwood told her and a few other pets at Hexley Hall about her amulet, and Wriggley stole it on Truesdale's behalf."

"We've got to stop her! I don't want her to steal it again!" Sofia murmured.

"Leave it to me," Sandra spoke up. She reached into her pocket, produced her wand, and chanted, _"Expecto patronum!"_

Everyone watched as the mink shot down the hall, and Wriggley scampered after it. "That should give us a few minutes," Sandra said when Wriggley was gone, "Now, where's the library?"

"Right through these doors," Dorrie replied, "But try not to activate the shusher. It's so touchy that any loud noise sets it off."

"Tell me about it," Candice added. "I've activated the shusher a lot when I've been on the ladders. You have to know exactly what you want before you get on it, and you can't help but yell when they start and stop so suddenly."

"Sounds like fun," James grinned.

Candice couldn't help but smile. "It is. I've actually gone to the library when nobody was around just so I could ride the ladder for fun!" The group's laughter was cut off by the shusher. "Oh, _you_ shush," Candice smirked at it, but she sobered quickly. "But it's right. We have no idea where Truesdale is, and who knows where Sandra's Patronus led Wriggley. That little weasel could be back at any moment."

"Before we start, Wendell, I think you should know why I was acting that way earlier," James started, and he explained about losing his voice when he was supposed to sing at his mother's funeral, his self-imposed exile from singing in public, singing in a disguise as 'the Secret Singer', and how he got the courage to sing again.

Wendell nodded. "Well, your mum was right; you've got a great voice. It was always fun having sing-alongs at camp, and you've got a way with music!"

Vivian also hugged him. "James, I'm so sorry you felt that way. Being in Music Appreciation when you didn't want to sing must have been torture for you!"

"Not really," James assured her, smirking at the word 'torture'; Roland had subjected him to tickle torture to join the class, and even then, he didn't know what class it was until he first entered the room. "I told Professor Blumberg that I'd play the piano and run the sound board when I first came to the class. He told me I could sing with them when I was ready. And on the day my birth mother appeared to me and told me she never held me to the promise I made about never singing in public again and that I should use my voice, I knew I was ready. Sure, on that day I sang in a disguise, but now that she said it was okay, I knew I didn't need a mask the second time."

"And you were wonderful both times!" Amber smiled.

"I can understand how you felt," Isabel spoke up. "I missed Mami and Papi so much when it came time to celebrate Día de los Muertos, that I didn't want to go to the graveyard. But Elena talked to me about it, and after we shared some memories of them, and some pan dulce, said if you keep the memory of your mother alive, it's like she's still with you."

"I know," James smiled. "I felt like she was singing with me when I had my door open for the first time. I sang behind a closed door for a little over three years, and a few months ago, I had it open again. Everyone was really happy to see that, and hear me sing around the castle again."

After a while, they couldn't find any books that might help them. They would have left the library sooner, but Candice took them a quick ride on the ladders. She smirked as the shusher nearly wore itself out trying to silence the whoops and cheers.

"That was brilliant!" James grinned as he came off the ladder.

"Told you!" Candice grinned back.

"Now I'll have to sneak over here and use the ladder just for the fun of it!" James added as the group left the library.

The group's next stop was the potion room. They weren't sure if they'd find something to help them, or a clue to find Truesdale, but it couldn't hurt either way.

Since Sofia's last visit to Hexley Hall, the bottles had each been labeled so they could tell what was in them. She grinned as she motioned Wendell and Sandra over.

"Did you find something to stop Truesdale or free everyone?" Sandra asked, seeing a beaker of liquid in Sofia's hands.

"Not exactly, but what's in this beaker will help you two," Sofia smiled. "Hold your conjoined hands out." When Wendell and Sandra complied, Sofia poured the liquid on their hands, which suddenly came apart. "How's that?"

"Much better," Wendell smiled as he waved his hand around.

"Yeah. Thanks, Sof; it feels good to wave my hand again, but like I said, I'm right handed so it didn't really affect me too much," Sandra agreed.

"Glad to help you, but Sandy, can I talk to you for a minute?" Sofia asked.

Sandra nodded, and she and Sofia rounded a corner. "Sandra, that potion will keep you separated, but it wears off if you don't trust him," Sofia warned her, "If you show any doubt around Wendell, you'll be stuck together again."

Sandra frowned. "I don't want to be stuck to him again, but I don't know if I can trust him after what he put Phoenix through. I said I'd give him the benefit of the doubt, but…" she trailed off when she saw her amulet glowing under her blouse.

"Well, doesn't this sound familiar?" A new voice asked.

Sofia and Sandra looked up. There in front of them was a girl around their age with blue hair. She wore a heart-shaped ruby necklace, a dark blue cape paired with a printed leather skirt with spiderweb leggings and black combat boots, and a crown. She held a compact mirror in her hand.

"Who are you?" Sofia asked.

"I'm Evie," the new girl introduced herself. "Sandra's amulet summoned me. It's nice to meet both of you. Sandra, I know exactly how you feel about being reluctant to trust someone. It took the students at Auradon a long time to trust me and my friends, and we did have to pull a few tricks on some people, but after Mal faced off against her mother and won, people learned to trust and accept us."

"That's good," Sofia smiled.

"Yes, and I hate to say this, but I still don't really trust Wendell," Sandra admitted. "I barely know him, and my only experience with him is when I had to rescue my horse when he hypnotized and kidnapped her."

"Let me show you something," Evie said as she took out her compact mirror. "I think Wendell feels the same way about you." As Sofia and Sandra watched, Evie opened it and recited, "Mirror, mirror, what does Sandra and Wendell's future hold? Show me what happens when their stories unfold."

The mirror showed an image of Wendell, who was talking with James. "I can understand how Sandra's feeling. She doesn't trust me after I kidnapped her horse. I want her to trust me, but I know it's going to take some work."

"I know. You and I got to know each other at camp, and it wasn't easy at first," James admitted. "But like Sandra said she'd do with you, we gave you the benefit of the doubt, and said everyone deserved another chance."

"You're right. Let's go find her and tell her," Wendell agreed. "And you, and she, will be glad to know that I can't do anything to her horse now."

"Really? Why not?" James asked as they made their way back to the others.

"Because my lute's at home," Wendell started. "I've still got my wand, but I haven't used it since I arrived here for Game Day. And you'll be happy to know that the pin I had which allowed me to talk to animals is gone."

"What happened to it?" Sandra asked as she and Sofia met up with them.

"After I stole your horse, my parents grounded me and had me working around our farm," Wendell started. "I could only understand the animals when they criticized me, but a month into my punishment, one of our goats butted me, and the pin flew off. Before I could get it, one of our cows stepped on it, and it broke. My mum was watching everything, so she knew it hadn't happened intentionally. She said the pin was old, since it used to belong to my dad, and my granddad, when they were my age, so it was only a matter of time before something happened to it."

"Well, as long as you're okay, and you learned your lesson, I guess I can give you a second chance," Sandra decided.

As she came over and heard Sandra say she'd Wendell a second chance, Candice smiled. For her, it brought back a happy memory of when she first arrived at Enchancia Castle after turning good, and King Roland gave her a second chance at a new life.

At the same time, Zoe and Isabel came up to them. "Evie!" Zoe gasped, recognizing one of her favorite princesses.

"Evie, this is my sister Zoe, and my friends Isabel and Candice," Sandra introduced them. She grinned at Zoe's starry-eyed stare. "As you can see, Zoe's a big fan of yours." She turned to her sister. "And good news, Zoe; Wendell and I aren't stuck together anymore."

"Brilliant! Now, let's find Truesdale and make him fix everyone!" James cheered.

"Okay, but does anyone know where to find him?" Isabel asked.

"I think I have an idea," Sandra started. "Come on, Wendell. If we're going to trust each other, we may as well start practicing."

"Where are you going?" Zoe asked, seeing her start to walk away.

"We're going to the stables. It might be a good idea to get a birds-eye view of the grounds and see if we can find Truesdale that way," Sandra replied.

"But Wendell stole Phoenix! What if he goes after Cloud next?" Zoe whispered.

"Phoenix is okay now, and Cloud's all right. And don't worry, Zoe; I'll keep an eye on him," Sandra promised, not wanting to reveal that she had to trust Wendell or be stuck together again.

"But if it makes you feel better, Zoe, we'll all go with them," Sofia assured her.

When they arrived at the stables, Wendell and Sandra made their way over to Phoenix's stall. However, Minimus, Saffron, and Echo started whispering to each other nervously.

"He's back! He'll hypnotize us again!" Minimus fretted.

"I'm not going to be his prisoner again!" Saffron vowed.

"I won't let him near you," Echo promised.

"Guys, it's okay; he's with me," Sandra whispered to them, "And we're riding my horse." With those words, she stopped in front of Phoenix's stall.

Phoenix backed away when she saw who was with her. "NO! Sandra, I'll help you in any way I can, but I will not let him ride me!" she declared. "I threw you and Zoe because of him!"

"Only because you were under a spell, and we forgave you for that," Sandra replied. "Please, Phoenix, like Queen Elsa said, can't you let it go?"

"Shall we, Wendell?" James asked, grinning.

"Oh yeah!" Wendell grinned back, and he and James started singing, _"Let it go! Let it go!"_

"James," Amber rolled her eyes.

"Wendell," Sandra gently cautioned in agreement, but she shook her head good-naturedly. "But you're right, Amber; I should have seen that coming when I mentioned Queen Elsa!" She turned to James and Wendell, who were doing the complicated handshake they made up at Camp Wilderwood. "Okay, guys, now that you've had a laugh at my expense, can we get back to business?"

"Sorry, we're just trying to lighten the mood," Wendell smiled, James nodding beside him.

"It's okay, Sandra, it was actually a good joke. And you know I always admired your talent for music and word play," Phoenix started, "But I can't forget what he did, and I don't trust him!" She snorted at Wendell, causing him to back away and bump into Sandra. She reached out a hand to steady him, but unfortunately, as soon as their hands touched, they became stuck together again.

"Well, Phoenix, it looks like you'll have to trust him now," Sandra said as she held her and Wendell's hands up, and told her about the 'stick together' hex, the potion Sofia found to free them, and how they had to trust each other or be stuck together.

"And it said on the bottle that even if the people who were affected by the spell don't say it, if anyone around them say they don't trust someone, the potion doesn't work," Sofia added. "I'm sorry; I forgot to tell you that. And apparently, that warning applies to animals too."

"It's not your fault, Sof," James assured her, everyone murmuring agreement.

"I'm sorry, Sandra…and you too, I suppose," Phoenix apologized, frowning at Wendell.

"Phoenix said she's sorry," Sandra translated.

"And I say, it's all right, Phoenix, it was an accident," Sofia smiled.

"That's all right, but what do we do now?" Wendell asked.

"Saddle up, Wendell; you're going for a ride," Sandra said as Phoenix knelt so they could mount her. "And Phoenix, try not to throw us, because if he goes, I go, and I mean that literally!"

"All right," Phoenix sighed, and as soon as everyone was on a horse (Isabel rode with Dorrie on Chestnut, Vivian rode with James on Echo, and Evie rode with Lucinda on Thunderbolt), they took to the skies to search for their enemy.

 **Author's Notes**

 **Thanks to Niagara14301 for helping with some of the details in this chapter.**

 **James' memory of joining the Music Appreciation class was from chapter 3 of my story The Day the Music Died.**

 **Wriggley, Grimtrix's weasel, and the library shusher were seen in the episode Hexley Hall.**

 **Evie is from the Disney movie Descendants. And since her mother is Evil Queen, that makes her a princess, so she can also be summoned by an amulet.**

 **Isabel's memory of talking with Elena about their parents was from the Elena of Avalor episode A Day to Remember.**

 **Phoenix's memory of throwing Zoe and Sandra, and being entranced by Wendell is from my story A Puzzling Mystery Weekend.**

 **The pin that allowed Wendell to only understand animals when they wanted him to do something for them was mentioned in my story A Puzzling Mystery Weekend. In chapter 8, Wendell's mother enchanted it so he could only understand the animals on his family's farm.**

 **Minimus, Saffron, and Echo's memory of Wendell is from the Sofia episode Minimus is Missing.**

 ** _"Only because you were hypnotized, and we forgave you for that," Sandra replied. "Please, Phoenix, like Queen Elsa said, can't you let it go?"_** **This is a reference to Queen Elsa and her immortal song Let It Go from the movie Frozen.**

 **James and Wendell's rendition of Let It Go is also from Frozen.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, everyone, I'm back! And I apologize about the long wait on this chapter! Quick note: I do not own the song used in this chapter; it belongs to its respective artist.**

As the group searched the grounds on their horses, Sandra looked back at Wendell. "Wendell, I just want to say that if your mom catches you on Phoenix, because as we all know, moms know everything," She smiled as Sofia gave her a thumbs-up for the comment, "I'll tell her about the stick-together hex, and hopefully she'll understand."

"Thanks," Wendell smiled.

"Anyway, I hope this isn't being too personal, but why doesn't your mom want you to ride a flying horse?" Sandra continued.

Wendell thought for a moment. "Well, I guess it's because my dad was injured when he rode one once. He trained flying horses, and one day there was a blood drive at the school he was working at. He always donated, but he forgot a cardinal rule…"

"Don't fly after donating blood?" James broke in, "Sofia's and my friend Hugo told us part of that story. Later, after we were feeling better, Hugo went on to tell us that the person was a wizard who was an honorary member of the team when Hugo's dad was at Royal Prep, and when he fell off his horse, he broke his leg and was out for half the season."

"That's right," Wendell nodded. "My mum was watching him when Royal Prep's headmistresses got him bandaged up and set his leg. She took care of him as he recovered, and as he started physical therapy, she made him promise never to go near a flying horse again."

"Is that why you started going after flying horses?" Amber asked.

"Kind of," Wendell replied, "When I was about as old as Miss Zoe, my dad would take me out to look for flying horses. He told me that he'd teach me to ride one, but my mum caught us one day. She didn't want what happened to him to happen to me. My dad tried to tell her that we'll be careful, but she insisted we stay away from them."

As she listened to the story, Sandra tried to use her free hand to steer Phoenix, but she found it difficult. "Wendell, I'm having a lot of trouble doing this with one hand…sorry, Amber!" she said as they flew too close to Saffron and Amber. "Is there another way we can fly?"

"Well, I did bring my flying carpet with me for some of the games," Wendell suggested. "Have you ever ridden one?"

"Oh, sure. My family got back from Tangu a few days ago, and while we were there, James' friend Zandar took me and Zoe on a flying carpet tour of the kingdom," Sandra looked over at Zoe, who grinned at the memory.

"He sure did, and that was fun!" she cheered.

"And how did your carpet behave?" Amber asked, recalling the trouble she and Sofia had with theirs the first time they rode one.

"Both were pretty well behaved, and yes, I know you and Sofia told us about how you tamed your carpet with Princess Jasmine's help," Sandra replied.

"Okay, well, it looks like this is where you and I get off," Wendell whistled, and in moments, his carpet was floating below them. He helped Sandra stand on Phoenix's saddle, and they jumped into the open air.

"Sandra!" Zoe cried out, seeing them free-fall for a moment before landing safely on the carpet.

"I'm okay!" Sandra called up to her, then she turned to Wendell, who was sharing her grin. "And Wendell, I have to say it: That. Was. Awesome!"

"And since we're on a flying carpet, we have to sing the proper song," Wendell grinned as he waved his wand and made music start playing.

Wendell: _I can show you the world  
Shining, shimmering, splendid  
Tell me, princess, now when did  
You last let your heart decide?_

 _I can open your eyes  
Take you wonder by wonder  
Over, sideways and under  
On a magic carpet ride_

("When in Loony Land, do as the loonies do!" Sandra quipped.)

 _A whole new world  
A new fantastic point of view  
No one to tell us no or where to go  
Or say we're only dreaming_

Sandra: _A whole new world  
A dazzling place I never knew  
But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear  
That now I'm in a whole new world with you_

Wendell: _Now I'm in a whole new world with you_

Sandra: _Unbelievable sights  
Indescribable feeling  
Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling  
Through an endless diamond sky_  
 _A whole new world_

Wendell: _Don't you dare close your eyes_

Sandra: _A hundred thousand things to see_

Wendell: _Hold your breath, it gets better_

Sandra: _I'm like a shooting star  
I've come so far  
I can't go back  
To where I used to be_

Wendell: _A whole new world_

Sandra: _Every turn a surprise_

Wendell: _With new horizons to pursue_

Sandra: _Every moment red-letter_

Both: _I'll chase them anywhere  
There's time to spare  
Let me share this whole new world with you_

Wendell: _A whole new world_

Sandra: _A whole new world_

Wendell: _That's where we'll be_

Sandra: _That's where we'll be_

Wendell: _A thrilling chase_

Sandra: _A wondrous place_

Both: _For you and me_

James and Vivian smiled at each other; they'd been singing along with them as they searched. James also smiled over at Wendell, happy that he and Sandra were getting along so well together.

"That was really pretty, you two, and don't worry; I won't tell Jay about it!" Evie joked.

"What happens here stays here!" Sandra joked back.

As they landed, Sofia came up to Wendell and Sandra, holding the beaker she'd used before. "This might help you two again," she said as she poured the liquid on their hands. As they separated, she warned, "We'll all have to be careful about what we say around you now. There might not be enough to help you if you get stuck together again."

"I understand, Sof, and we all know not to talk about that now," Sandra agreed, Phoenix nodding at her side.

After a while, they hadn't found anything they thought would help them. The group decided to take a quick break in the conjurteria, get something to eat, and continue planning.

Lucinda, Dorrie and Candice pointed out the hat in the middle of the room and explained how to use it. Lucinda then demonstrated how the hat worked by putting her hand on it and wishing for a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Brilliant! Let me try that!" James grinned. He touched the hat and said, "I wish for a big buffet line of pizzas for everyone!" As the pizzas appeared, he said, "Lunch is on me, guys!"

"And let's get some more drinks to go along with it," Sofia suggested, touching the hat and making several bottles of pumpkin juice and soda appear.

"Sides, plates, and napkins, too," Amber added, touching the hat and producing salads, fruit, chips, glasses, plates, silverware, and napkins.

As everyone was enjoying lunch and making suggestions, Sofia saw a cat and a bulldog coming in. "Chester and Pumpkin! They were there when Wriggley stole my amulet," she explained.

"We've got to stop them!" Lucinda murmured.

"I've got an idea," Sandra offered. She touched the hat and said, "I wish for two pet food bowls, a bag of cut-up chicken, and two hot dogs without the buns, cut in pieces." She set the food out for Chester and Pumpkin, motioning for everyone to get out as the animals ate. "If this sort of thing works for Spike and Ambre, it can work for those two." She motioned for everyone to start walking toward the doors. "But on a more serious note…" She aimed her wand at Chester and Pumpkin. _"Confundus!"_

"Nice move," Candice smiled as they slipped out.

"Thanks. I did this because if Truesdale checks their memories, he'll see that Chester and Pumpkin will remember seeing people in the conjurteria, but not the ones they were sent to look for," Sandra explained.

"So where do we look now?" Isabel asked as they walked through the halls.

"Maybe try outside again?" Vivian suggested.

"It can't hurt," Sofia agreed. "We might find a clue to help everyone, and maybe we can find a way to free those trapped in the big crystals."

"We should also find out what those crystals are," Dorrie suggested. "I thought I saw some books about magical crystal prisons in the library…and I'll get them while you guys wait for me!" she added, seeing James and Candice's excited looks as they thought about riding the ladders again.

"You're no fun, you know that?" James frowned.

"Oh, bring it on, James; I've heard worse than that," Dorrie smirked as she entered the library. After a few minutes, she came back with a small stack of books. "Well, we can start with these and go from there. This one," she held up a small red book in good condition with pictures of gems on the cover, "A Beginner's Guide to Mystical Crystals, will tell us about what these crystals are, and if there's a way to free anyone trapped in them."

"Let's also look at 101 Magical Stones," Candice suggested, picking up a good-sized green book with gray letters on the front. It looked old, but it was still in fairly good condition.

"We'll definitely need this one: 38 Tricks to Counter-cursing," Lucinda said as she held up a small, ancient-looking purple book with white letters on the front.

"Well, now that we've got some books, let's start reading," Sofia declared. "You never know; maybe one of them will tell us how to free everyone."

The group nodded and began reading, unaware that the crystal prisons were breaking, and people were starting to emerge.

 **Author's Notes**

 **Thanks to Niagara14301 for helping with some of the details on this chapter.**

 **"Moms know everything" is a quote Miranda frequently uses.**

 **James and Wendell's talk about not flying after donating blood is from chapter 2 of my story Royal Blood.**

 **Sofia, Amber, and Sandra's conversation about how a flying carpet behaved is based on the episode Two to Tangu.**

 **Sandra's "When in Loony Land, do as the loonies do" is from the cartoon Dungeons and Dragons.**

 **Evie's comment about not telling Jay about the song is a reference to Disney's Descendants, since Jay is the son of Jafar, who was the antagonist in Aladdin.**

 **Wendell and Sandra's duet of A Whole New World is from Aladdin.**

 **The conjurteria was first seen in the episode Hexley Hall, as were Chester the bulldog and Pumpkin the cat.**

 **Confundus is found in Harry Potter.**

 **As Cedric so eloquently puts it, Merlin's Mushrooms! Not the dreaded cliffhanger again!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A quick disclaimer before we begin: I do not own the song used in this chapter; it belongs to its original artist.**

On the far end of Hexley Hall, Truesdale was growing more impatient. How much longer would he have to wait to get a hold of the amulet? Suddenly, he noticed that the crystals were breaking, and people were emerging. They looked all right, looking none the worse for being trapped, but as he aimed his staff at them, everyone fell under his spell. As the lights around them faded, he saw that they were all wearing an assortment of witch and warlock robes. "Now that you are under my control, my children, go forth and find Princess Sofia and her friends," he ordered, "Bring them to me, alive, and make sure Sofia is unharmed. I want her amulet in one piece."

When the groups were gone, he turned to Wriggley, who was cowering in a corner. "As for you, Wriggley, how could you have fallen for the old 'Follow-the-Patronus' trick? At least Chester and Pumpkin tried, but they didn't find Princess Sofia or her little friends! They thought to search the conjureteria, but didn't see them!" He sighed, watching the crystals as they started to grow more fragile. "Well, no matter. Soon, we'll have enough help to track them down!"

At that moment, from where she was hiding with the others, Sofia heard what she thought was Ruby's voice. "Surround the school on all sides. Post a guard at the stables. No one goes in or out without checking in with one of us."

"Oh, Ruby…" Sofia murmured, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Don't worry, Sof, we'll free her from whatever spell she's under," James assured her as he and the others pulled her into a group hug.

"I hope so," Sofia murmured.

"We'll have to go out there to free her. But we need disguises," Candice suggested.

"You know that Amber and I can turn invisible, right?" Sandra asked. "Maybe we can do that for all of you, so they won't be able to see us."

"We can do that with more than one person?" Amber asked, recalling that her amulet, like Sandra's had given her the power of invisibility.

"If it worked for me and Phoenix, it can work for everyone," Sandra replied.

"It's a good idea, Sandra, but people will still hear us even if they can't see us," Lucinda shook her head."Wait a minute. Dorrie, Candice, help me out. Candice, you gave me a good idea with the disguises. I just need a little help to cover everyone here."

"Okay," Dorrie said as she, Candice, and Lucinda raised their wands and pointed them at the group. "Ready?"

"Ready!" Candice and Lucinda chorused. They aimed their wands at everyone and chanted, _"Witch-a-doodle-do!"_

When Zoe came out of the light, she was wearing a short layered black skirt over a pair of loose trousers, a pink corset top, and a pair of heeled shoes. Around her neck was a silk scarf, and she wore a wide-brimmed pointed hat with a short end on her head.

Sandra emerged from the light next. She was wearing a pair of short boots, a medium-length red flared skirt, and a long-sleeve cream colored shirt. A cape was slung over her shoulders. Like Zoe, she was wearing a silk scarf, but wore a brimless pointed hat.

Amber smiled at her own outfit. She was wearing a pastel layered skirt embroidered with stars, a light colored flowing shirt, and high heeled boots. A shawl was draped over her shoulders. She smiled at the ring on her finger, and the pointed hat with a pork pie hat-style brim.

Isabel followed her, wearing a pair of high pointy boots, a blue, gray, and silver kilt, and a corset top. A hooded cape was draped over her shoulders. She also wore a choker and a brimless pointed hat.

Candice smiled at her own pair of heeled shoes, her long midnight-blue poufy skirt over a pair of flared black pants, and a medium-length-sleeve white shirt. She wore a long coat over it. She wore a knit scarf and a narrow-brimmed pointed hat.

Dorrie nodded at her disguise, consisting of short black boots, a medium-length flared light gray skirt, and a medium-length-sleeved dark purple blouse. Like Candice, she wore a long coat over it. She also wore a silk scarf and a wide-brimmed pointed hat with a short end.

Sofia was next to get a disguise, and she was now wearing a pair of short boots and a medium-length purple dress with no sleeves. She wore a wide belt, a narrow-brimmed pointed hat that sloped backwards, and a ring.

Lucinda smiled as she looked herself over. She wore a pair of short boots, a short light blue poufy skirt over a pair of loose blue trousers, and a loose white top with short sleeves. A hooded cape was over her shoulders. She wore a scarf around her neck, and had a wide-brimmed pointed hat that sloped backwards.

Vivian received her disguise next. She was wearing pair of short boots, a short pink poufy skirt over a pair of loose trousers, and a loose cream-colored top with short sleeves. Like some of the girls, she wore a hooded cape. She also wore a scarf and a wide-brimmed pointed hat that sloped backwards.

Evie grinned as she looked over her outfit. She wore a pair of knee-high pointy boots and a long blue and gold skirt, and a wrap-around sleeveless shirt. Around her neck was a knit scarf, and she wore a shawl.

"I must say, ladies, all of you look beautiful!" Wendell smiled as he took in their disguises.

"Yes, and that's brilliant for you, but what about me and Wendell?" James asked.

Dorrie grinned as she aimed her wand at him and Wendell. "Don't worry; I've got it covered, James… _Warlockia!"_

Wendell emerged from the light, wearing a pair of black pants, and a loose gray top with medium-length sleeves. He wore a silk scarf and a brimless pointed hat.

"And it looks like we saved the best for last," Candice smiled as James came out of the light.

Rolling his eyes, James still smiled as he looked over his disguise. He wore gray pants and medium-length boots, and a red top with long sleeves. He also wore a belt, a long coat, and a brimless pointed hat.

"Is there any way to get an actual copy of this outfit?" Amber asked.

"Check this out," Lucinda smiled. _"Disguiso duplicatto!"_ When everyone had a copy of their disguises, Lucinda sent them back to where their trunks were.

"Okay, now that we're in disguise, where do we go?" Vivian asked.

"Let's try to follow one of the groups. They may lead us to Truesdale," Sofia suggested. "He also might know how to undo those spells."

"And those who have wands, keep them out. Who knows who we'll run into," Dorrie added.

"Training wands, too?" Zoe asked.

"Training wands, too," Dorrie agreed. "And you never know, this might give you some practice."

Everyone looked around for groups they could blend in with. "There!" Isabel's voice was no higher than a whisper as she pointed toward a group of people. Their outfits were similar to the clothes that Dorrie and Candice created for everyone.

"Good eyes, Isabel," Lucinda smiled. "Well, guys, here we go!"

As soon as they emerged, they saw a tall boy, whom Zoe and Sandra thought looked about as old as Ezekiel. Like their brother, he had short brown hair and gray eyes. And like those around them, he was wearing a different sort of warlock's outfit, which consisted of a dark suit and short pointed boots. He also had a long coat, a scarf around his neck, and a pointed hat with a bowler-style brim.

"Zachary!" Candice gasped, recognizing him. She whispered to her friends, "Everyone, that's Zachary Michaels. He's in Kennicot House, and he and I are in Middle Earth Studies together. He's very nice, and a really good artist."

"He's not looking particularly nice now," Amber murmured.

"What are we going to do? We have to get past him," Vivian whispered.

"I've got an idea, but I need everyone to be quiet when I cast the spell," Sandra whispered as she took her wand out. "If you need to talk, write it down so the spell doesn't rebound on me."

"We have to be quiet so the spell doesn't rebound?" Dorrie echoed. "I think I know the one you're talking about, and I'll have you know that Candice told me about that spell!"

"That was one of Maleficent's favorites," Candice grinned. "It wasn't particularly evil by her standards, but she said it drove everyone crazy!"

"That was one of the spells you showed me in her spellbook," Sandra agreed. "I hope you don't mind, Candice, but I saw Aleena copying some of the spells down so she could use them herself."

"I know; I was there when I showed her the book," Candice smiled. "I told her that if she liked any of the spells, she should copy them." As she spoke, she distributed notebooks and pencils to everyone, saying that if someone needed to speak when Sandra cast the spell, they could write it down so they could read it later.

"Ready, Sandra?" Zoe whispered.

"Oh yeah," Sandra whispered back just as Zachary approached them.

"Master Grimtrix told us about spies in our midst," he said to them. "They must be apprehended at once."

"Is that so?" Sandra aimed her wand at him. "Well, apprehend this! _Earwormicus balladia!"_ She smirked as a song started playing.

 _Finders, keepers, losers, weepers  
Ring around the rosy  
And I'll catch you if I can  
And if you don't say may I,  
Then you'll have to start again  
But first you must indulge me  
And count from one to ten  
Let the game begin_

Sandra grinned as she wrote something down. Everyone had to cover their mouths to stifle their laughter as they read 'Folk music is a deadly weapon in the wrong hands!'

 _I adore you when you touch me  
Pin the tail upon the donkey,  
You will surely win  
And if you don't say may I,  
Then I'll pass the cake around  
And I won't give you any,  
But you won't make a sound  
You don't eat soap, anyhow_

James and Amber grinned at each other. Amber scribbled something down, and Sofia smiled as she read 'This was one of our birth mother's favorite songs!'

 _Red light, green light,  
Blue light, yellow light  
You can take three giant steps  
Or a baby step will do  
But if you don't say may I,  
Then I'll march you out the door  
Where you'll be contemplating  
The numbers one to four  
I hope you're keeping score_

Candice smirked as she wrote something down. She tapped Sandra's shoulder and showed her what she'd written. Sandra smirked as she read 'Are you sure you weren't created by Maleficent for evil too?'

 _'Cause if you don't say may I,  
Then I'll get you with the hose  
And spoil your Sunday clothes_

'Pretty sure,' Sandra wrote back. 'But even though I'm shyer than Vivian, Sir Avery says I have a wicked sense of humor!' She saw Wendell's questioning look when he read that, and wrote to him, 'I'll tell you in a minute.'

 _Will it please you if I tease you  
While you're at the spin-dry,  
I'll pass the pie around  
But you won't make a sound  
You don't eat blackbird anyhow_

 _There's four and twenty reasons  
Why it can't be wrong  
How long have you been gone  
Finders, keepers, losers, weepers  
Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater  
Wear your sneakers around sound sleepers_

As the song faded, Zachary groaned as he started humming. "Get out! Get out! Get out!" he grumbled, pounding his ear.

"Sorry, Zachary, you'll be singing that little gem for a week," Sandra smiled as she and her friends slipped away. "And Zoe, thanks for being quiet." She turned to the others, explaining, "The first time I cast this spell, Zoe distracted me and I ended up with a song in my head for a day."

"I think Mister Cedric cast that spell once too," Sofia recalled. "I don't remember why he was doing that, but he got distracted because of me. It took a few days for him to get the song out of his head, but he forgave me."

"So what do we do now?" Dorrie tried to get everyone focused again.

"First, I tell Wendell this," Sandra replied, turning to him, "I think James told you that he waits until everyone's gone before he gets a story back in Creative Writing; I know since I saw him once when I forgot something, he told me why he does that, and I'll let him tell you about it…anyway, I do the same thing in my Public Speaking class. I was prepared and everything for my speech, but when it was my turn, I froze and ran out of the room. Luckily, Miss Flora was more than understanding, and said she'd let me do my speeches for her and the fairies when everyone was gone."

"I understand perfectly," Wendell assured her, "I can't speak in public either."

Suddenly, they heard a new voice. "Isn't that a shame," everyone looked up, and saw Truesdale in front of them. He appraised their disguises. "Well, don't all of you look nice? But the game is over now." He aimed his staff at them, but Sandra gathered her strength and pushed Zoe into a bush just as she and her friends were caught in a large bubble. Truesdale smirked as they pounded on it, trying to break it. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that," he taunted them, cupping a hand over his ear as they yelled for him to let them go. "Enough of that. You're all coming with me. But don't worry, I'll find that little girl soon enough."

From where she watched in the bushes, Zoe was afraid. In all the time she'd learned magic, she'd never gone up against someone that powerful. Sure, Aleena's magic was strong and she'd learned everything she knew from her father, and the fairies were also really good, and Sandra was great at spells. But what could she do against Grimtrix Truesdale with only a training wand? She was so lost in thought that she barely noticed the figure coming toward her.

 **Author's notes**

 **Thanks to Niagara14301 for helping out with some of the details in this chapter.**

 **Gordon Lightfoot's May I is not mine.**

 **Sandra and Amber both have the powers of invisibility thanks to the events of my story The Rise and Fall of Eze Grey.**

 **Witch-a-doodle-do is a spell that was seen in the episode Cauldronation Day. This gives a person a witch's outfit. Warlockia is a similar spell I invented which does the same thing for a boy, giving them a warlock's outfit.**

 **Disguiso duplicatto is another spell I invented, which makes copies of the disguise a person wears.**

 **Middle Earth Studies is an elective course students can take at Hexley Hall, and is Candice's favorite subject.**

 **Earwormicus (music style) is a spell I invented, which first appeared in Do You Want to Sing Together XIII chapter 35. An earworm is a song or melody that repeats in a person's mind. A good example came about in the Spongebob Squarepants episode Earworm.**

 **Zachary Michaels is an original character of mine.**

 **The bubble everyone was trapped in was like the one Miss Nettle put the fairies in during Make Way for Miss Nettle.**

 **James' backstory of waiting until everyone's gone before he gets a paper back can be found in chapter 4 of my story The Missing Memory Mystery.**

 **Don't you just hate cliffhangers?**


	6. Chapter 6

Zoe was so busy watching Grimtrix float the bubble away that she didn't notice someone come up behind her. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and another hand cover her mouth when she was about to scream.

"Zoe, it's all right. It's me," Evie said as she took her hand off her mouth and gave her a hug. "I'll have to remember to thank Jay for all his lessons on finding hiding places!"

"I'm glad you're safe, and you found a friend," they heard Miss Lovegood's voice next to them. "Come on. We've got people to save."

"Wait a minute. What about everyone else?" Zoe asked.

"Don't worry, Zoe. Thanks to the Shield Charms that Dorrie, Lucinda, and Candice cast, several of the students were protected from Grimtrix's spells," Miss Lovegood assured her. "After I made sure they were all right and unaffected by the spells, I sent them to their Houses for their own safety."

"But Sofia's friend Ruby was telling people to keep an eye out for us," Zoe started.

"I know; I heard her too. But don't worry, we'll help her. And before you ask, Princess Sofia's friend Jade is safe. She was with a group of students who were shielded from the spells," Miss Lovegood replied.

At the same time, Grimtrix was taunting Sofia and her friends. They knew they couldn't hear him, but they got the gist of what he was saying.

Suddenly, Grimtrix saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Three figures were running at him. He looked up in shock to see Zoe running at him, with Evie and Miss Lovegood right behind her.

"That's enough, Grimtrix!" Miss Lovegood shouted, aiming her wand at him.

Zoe glared at Grimtrix and tried to adopt the dueling pose she'd seen Sandra use earlier. "You need a mother very very badly!"

"Note to self: teach Zoe proper fencing position," Sandra mused.

"Don't worry, Sandra! Zoe brought help!" Dorrie assured her when she saw Zoe, Miss Lovegood, and Evie approach, and Miss Lovegood start a wand duel with Grimtrix.

At the same time, Isabel called out to Zoe. "She can't hear me!" she said when Zoe didn't even look around. She pounded on the bubble, hoping Zoe could see it move.

Evie couldn't hear them either, but she saw the bubble moving, and motioned for Zoe to follow her gaze.

As they looked up, Sofia wrote something down on her notebook. "I remember casting this same spell when the fairies were trapped in a bubble," she explained.

"Great idea, Sof, but Zoe can't hear us!" James started.

"Maybe not, but she can read," Sandra reasoned. She scribbled something in her own notebook. She smiled as her sister read what she'd written: 'Wave your wand, Zoe!'

Zoe waved her wand, and read what Sofia had written: "With these words I end your trouble; Rupto Sudso, pop that bubble!"

Everyone fell to the ground when the bubble popped. "Stupid gravity!" James muttered.

"Is everyone alright?" Miss Lovegood asked.

"We're fine. Zoe, that was great!" Sandra said as Wendell helped her up.

Zoe smiled as she watched Wendell and Sandra getting along so well together. Maybe this would break the spell they were under.

However, before they could say anything else, Grimtrix aimed his wand at them again. The green stone on the tip of his wand glowed. "No sudden moves!"

At the same time, Candice cast a Shield charm between them. "Is everyone okay?" she asked. She saw that Amber looked unnerved when she saw the stone on top of Grimtrix's wand, and she gave her hand a comforting squeeze.

"We're all fine," Sofia said as she looked around at everyone.

"Medusa stones. It _had_ to be Medusa stones," Vivian shuddered, but she managed a half smile as James patted her shoulder.

"Hey, if it hadn't been for Grimtrix and his fancy Medusa stone, I wouldn't have made it to Junior Knight," Sandra spoke up.

"How do you figure that?" Isabel asked.

"Like I said to Sir Avery, clumsiness comes in handy!" Sandra grinned, and told them her story.

 _Sandra's flashback_

 _Aleena, the Royal Sorceress of Orillia, had been at Hexley Hall for the Gathering of the Sorcerers. She had also attended Grimtrix's secret meeting, but thankfully, she had no intention of taking over Orillia (she still blamed herself for what happened to Ezekiel, even though he had been the one to steal the potion and try to take over the kingdom). It was only out of curiosity that she'd gone with everyone. Like Enchancia's inventor Gwen, she was interested in knowing how the stone worked. Also, like Candice and Maleficent's spell book, she wanted to see if there was a way she could use the stone's magic for good._

 _When she'd heard Grimtrix's plan, she'd Apparated back to Orillia, where Grimtrix thought she'd start her attack right away. Little did he know that she was crying in her workshop since she learned that she'd been part of something awful._

 _Sandra had heard her, and after she learned what had happened, told Aleena that she understood how she was feeling. She told her how she became friends with Candice, and didn't judge her because she was a clone of Dorrie created by Maleficent. She knew about Aleena's fondness for experimenting, and knew she only wanted to do things that would help the kingdom. She even suggested that Aleena keep the Medusa stone so she could use it for security purposes or to defend herself._

 _"You've always been so understanding, Princess Sandra," Aleena smiled._

 _Before Sandra could reply, they heard fighting below them. They ran down the stairs to assist in any way they could._

 _As she was Sir Avery's squiress, or female squire, Sandra ran to help him by picking up a spare shield that had been forgotten on the stairs. However, she also saw a sword near it, and figured someone could always use an extra weapon. Unfortunately, she slipped on the steps and fell on top of Grimtrix, landing heavily on her right ankle._

 _That moment of clumsiness proved helpful, as it distracted Grimtrix from seeing what Aleena was up to. She Summoned his staff, and shattered the Medusa stone. Fortunately, none of the royal family had been frozen, while unfortunately, Grimtrix escaped while everyone was tending to Sandra._

 _"Sorry, Dad; thanks to me, Grimtrix got away," Sandra groaned as Robert helped her sit up. "But good news; Zeke's not here so he can't tease me about any of this!"_

 _"Don't worry about Ezekiel. Everyone slips on the stairs now and then," Patricia said as she helped her to the couch._

 _"Your mother's right. We're all safe, and you'll be fine, so that's all that matters," Robert assured her._

 _End flashback_

"Then a few days later, I took my test, and was promoted to Junior Knight…Go me!" Sandra finished her story. She couldn't resist smirking at Grimtrix and adding, "Thanks for breaking my fall!"

"Clumsiness and jokes can only save you so much!" Grimtrix yelled, aiming his wand at her. But before he could act, Wendell grabbed Sandra's arm and pulled her away with him.

At the same time, Zoe shouted, "Leave my sister alone!" She aimed her training wand at him.

Grimtrix smirked. "Oh, isn't this just too precious! And what do you think you can do against me with only a training wand?"

"You'd be surprised," Sandra smirked as Zoe started to shoot sparks at Chester, Pumpkin, and Wriggley.

"Zoe, need some help?" Candice asked. "But first, Pumpkin! Follow the light!" She made a dot of light appear, and she and Sandra smiled as they watched Pumpkin scamper after it. When he was gone, Candice turned to her friends. "Creamy loves chasing little dots of light too! Pumpkin is chasing the light to Miss Lovegood's office. Her cat Wilfred is waiting for him there, and he'll keep an eye on him."

"We cat lovers have to stick together!" Sandra grinned, knowing that Ambre liked chasing dots of light as well.

"My mum would agree with all of this," Wendell agreed. "When she wasn't watching me around the farm, she'd be doing that with our barn cats."

"Okay, now that that's taken care of," Lucinda waved her wand. _"Firecrackerus explodo!"_

Everyone watched as the sparks that shot out of Lucinda's wand transformed into a large dragon and chased Grimtrix.

"Lucinda, that was awesome!" Dorrie cheered.

"Not just awesome, it was brilliant!" James whooped as Grimtrix came running back toward them.

"But he's coming back!" Vivian warned. "What are we going to do now?"

"I've got an idea!" Zoe called as she took her training wand out again. "Sandra, thank you for teaching me this spell!"

"Go for it!" Sandra cheered.

As she watched him run toward her, Zoe aimed her training wand at Grimtrix, thought of how she had freed her sister, and met Evie, and chanted, _"Expecto Patronum!"_ She watched in amazement as a long shape shot out of her wand and knocked Grimtrix down.

"That was incredible, Zoe!" Isabel grinned as everyone took the opportunity to escape.

"What kind of animal is it?" Wendell asked.

"A dog," Sandra said as she recognized it. "Or to be more specific, a dachshund."

"Spike!" Zoe cheered.

"That's right. Next time we visit him in Lewiston, we can surprise him," Sandra agreed. "And hopefully Ambre will like this version of him."

"Okay, now that we've distracted Grimtrix for the time being, let's get somewhere safe so we can plan our next move," Miss Lovegood suggested.

Everyone agreed and followed her, unaware that Grimtrix was also starting to plan his next move as well.

 **Author's Notes**

 **Thanks to Niagara14301 for helping with some of the details in this chapter.**

 **Firecrackerus Explodo was a spell Cedric used in the episode Mystic Meadows.**

 **The fireworks dragon was seen in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Fred and George made the fireworks display during OWL exams).**

 **Aleena's memory of Ezekiel trying to take over Orillia and stealing a potion can be found in my story The Rise and Fall of Eze Grey.**

 **"You need a mother very very badly!" was what Peter Pan's daughter said the movie Hook.**

 **The magic bubble that prevented people from hearing other people and the spell to break it, "With these words I end your trouble, Rupto Sudso pop that bubble" are from the episode Make Way for Miss Nettle.**

 **Medusa Stones are from the episode Day of the Sorcerers.**

 **Sandra's flashback about her experience with a Medusa stone is like a deleted scene from chapter 47 of Do You Want to Sing Together XIV (and yes, Grimtrix was the wizard she landed on!).**

 **(Nooo! Not the cliffhanger again!)**


	7. Chapter 7

**At long last, the next chapter! And I apologize about the ridiculously long wait! All songs used in here belong to their original artists.**

Miss Lovegood led everyone to her office. They were surprised to see Evie there, along with Wilfred and Pumpkin. "I've been talking to Miss Lovegood about some ideas we could try," Evie greeted them. "I'm sorry I keep disappearing, but sometimes I need some time to gather my thoughts or think up an idea to help us. I also contact some friends of mine to get their input on this situation as well."

"Don't worry, Evie," Zoe assured her. "You and Miss Lovegood helped me get everyone back when they were trapped in the bubble."

"Okay, but how can we stop Grimtrix and possibly lift his spells on everyone?" Amber asked.

Beside her, Wendell was lost in thought. He recalled a spell that Sandra had cast on him once.

 _Wendell's flashback_

 _Before Wendell had turned over a new leaf and become a better person following his adventure at Camp Wilderwood, he had stolen Sandra's horse, and although she had done a fairly good job against him in their wand duel, he wouldn't give up his birthday present without a fight. He just wasn't prepared for the trick she pulled next._

 _"Levicorpus!" Sandra had recited. Wendell, who had been standing next to Phoenix, was flipped upside-down by his ankle. Normally, he'd just make someone float with it, but she had apparently learned how to use it properly._

 _End Wendell's flashback_

"I think we'll have to go back outside for this," Wendell spoke up.

"Okay, Wendell; you do what you need to, and I'll ask my mirror for advice," Evie suggested.

"You have an idea, Wendell?" James asked as Miss Lovegood led everyone out again.

"I think so," Wendell started as he took his wand out, "I can levitate us up to the roof where we can take him by surprise." He saw Sandra back away, but he thought she was giving him some space to cast the spell. He aimed his wand at her. _"Levi-"_

"No!" Sofia cried out, making Wendell lower his wand in surprise. "No _Levicorpus_ spells!"

"Wendell, wait!" Sandra said from where she was standing away from him. "First, I'm sorry I cast that spell on you, but please don't use it on me!"

"Why not?" Wendell asked.

"Sandra can't tumble or go upside-down," Zoe explained.

"Why not?" Wendell repeated.

"I don't know why, but I remember that her mother Queen Patricia came into the gym one day during class," Sofia recalled. "She told the teacher that Sandra couldn't participate in tumbling and that she can't go upside-down."

"Okay…so we'll try something else," Wendell looked toward Sandra for suggestions.

"That's right, Wendell; when in doubt improvise!" Sandra agreed. "First, do you guys trust me enough for me to cast this spell? And don't worry; this time we can sing with the music."

"We trust you," Sofia smiled as everyone nodded.

"Okay," Sandra waved her wand. _"Musica Montgomeria!"_

When he heard the music start, James grinned. "I have to say it again: I love this song!"

"Tell us something we don't know," Amber quipped as he jumped right into the song and started using his self-taught gymnastics and knight training to fight off some of Grimtrix's forces that started to surround them.

James: _When I was fourteen I was falling fast_  
 _For a blue-eyed girl in my homeroom class_

("No, Amber; that's my favorite Selena Gomez song!" Vivian joked.)

 _Trying to find the courage to ask her out_  
 _Was like trying to get oil from a waterspout_  
 _What she would have said I can't say_  
 _I never did ask and she moved away_  
 _But I learned something from my blue-eyed girl_  
 _Sink or swim you gotta give it a whirl_

As they started doing some ballet moves to escape more of Grimtrix's forces, Amber and Isabel joined him on the chorus, _Life's a dance you learn as you go_  
 _Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow_  
 _Don't worry about what you don't know_  
 _Life's a dance you learn as you go_

As she sang with Amber, Isabel smiled. She remembered Elena singing this to Mateo when he was showing doubts about being the new Royal Wizard, and later when he took on an apprentice.

Sofia grinned as she looked up and joined them, _The longer I live the more I believe_  
 _You do have to give if you want to receive_  
 _There's a time to listen, a time to talk_  
 _And you might have to crawl even after you walk_

As they participated in a wand duel with two more of Grimtrix's forces, Dorrie and Candice jumped right in, _Had sure things blow up in my face_  
 _Seen the longshot, win the race_  
 _Been knocked down by the slamming door_  
 _Picked myself up and came back for more_

"Wendell, follow my lead," Sandra added, adopting a fencing position.

"Okay," Wendell copied her movements.

As they had their own wand duels with two more of Grimtrix's forces, they joined in, _Life's a dance you learn as you go_  
 _Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow_  
 _Don't worry about what you don't know_  
 _Life's a dance you learn as you go_

"I have an idea, Sandra," Wendell said as the song went on, "Do you trust me?"

"I trust you," Sandra nodded.

Wendell aimed his wand at their feet and murmured, " _Wing-a-rooble-do!"_

Sandra watched in amazement as wings sprouted from her and Wendell's shoes and they flew up into the air. She grinned as she recalled having something similar when she and Zoe had gone with Sofia, James, and Amber's Aunt Tilly to pick Airabella apples. "Again I say, Wendell, that is awesome!"

As they listened to them, Vivian and Lucinda smiled as they dueled two more students. At the same time, Lucinda noticed that her amulet was glowing. She didn't know who was coming, since she and Vivian were concentrating more on the song and their fight. _Life's a dance you learn as you go_  
 _Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow_  
 _Don't worry about what you don't know_  
 _Life's a dance you learn as you go_

As Wendell and Sandra spun past Grimtrix and shot sparks at him, Sofia noticed that her own amulet was glowing. It was as if it was telling her that whatever they were doing seemed to be working, since she didn't sense anyone appearing.

Zoe smiled as she sang with them, _Life's a dance you learn as you go_  
 _Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow_  
 _Don't worry about what you don't know_  
 _Life's a dance you learn as you go_

Everyone finished the song, _Life's a dance_  
 _Life's a dance_  
 _Life's a dance_  
 _Take a chance on love_  
 _Life's a dance_  
 _You learn as you go_

"Like Grimtrix said before, James, you do Queen Melinda proud!" Candice grinned as Wendell and Sandra came back down and Wendell removed the wings from their shoes.

"He does indeed," they heard a voice behind them.

The group turned. When he saw the person who was standing there smiling at them, James almost broke down in tears again. "Mom…" he murmured.

"Mother…" Amber whispered, tearing up herself.

"So that's why I saw my amulet glowing before," Lucinda murmured. "I wondered who it summoned, and I'm glad it was you."

The group looked up just in time to see James squeeze his sister's hand. They saw that James and Amber were right, for standing right behind them was the spirit of Queen Melinda. She smiled at James and Amber. "I always knew you'd make it into Pepperton one day!"

"Now I know how Elena felt," Isabel murmured. "As she was tucking me in after the Día de Los Muertos celebration, she told me that she saw the ghosts of our parents. She said they loved the drawing I made."

"Oh, yes," Melinda smiled at her, "I've seen Raul and Lucia, and they told me to tell you that they're very proud of you and your sister."

"Thank you," Isabel smiled.

"And I have a surprise for you two," Melinda continued, turning to Wendell and Sandra. She smiled as Wendell bowed and Sandra raised her dagger in a salute. "When you said that you trusted each other, the spell you were under was broken."

"I wondered why I thought my hand was falling asleep when we broke apart," Sandra commented.

"That sometimes happens when you have a potion spill on you or someone gives you an antidote," Candice explained. "It means that whatever spell you were under is lifted."

"Okay, now that you're free from that hex, what's the plan now?" Lucinda asked.

"We get revenge on Grimtrix for what he did," Wendell suggested.

"And how do you propose you do that?" they heard a voice behind them.

Wendell turned. "Mother?"

The group turned to see Wendell's mother standing close to them, her flying carpet rolled up under her arm. "I was watching everything through my crystal ball, and thought you might need some extra help," she explained.

"Wendell's not in trouble for anything, is he?" Sandra asked, "Ma'am, before you say anything, yes, it's true that Wendell was riding a flying horse when he wasn't supposed to. It's only because he and I were under a stick-together hex that Grimtrix cast on us, and he had to go wherever I went."

"I know, child," Wendell's mother started.

"And it was my idea to have him ride with me, so it's not his fault—" Sandra continued before Wendell's mother aimed her wand at her.

 _"Langlock._ Thank you," she smirked as Sandra tried to speak, but found it difficult thanks to her tongue being glued to the roof of her mouth. "I know all about the spell you were under. As you said yourself, mothers know everything. I don't fault either of you for what happened, and I'm glad that all of you are all right." She smiled at Zoe, who was frowning. "And I apologize for that spell, little one. I'll lift it straight away."

"I can take care of that, ma'am," Dorrie offered. She aimed her wand at Sandra. " _Finite."_

"Are you all right?" Zoe asked, seeing Sandra gasp and shudder as the spell was lifted.

"I'm fine, and now I know how Zeke and Deidre felt," Sandra nodded. "But take note, Zoe, you are not to use that spell on me again."

"Okay," Zoe agreed.

"Now, shall we share ideas on how to get rid of that evil man once and for all?" Wendell's mother asked. "I remember him from my time here. He was always so nice! Imagine my shock when he turned out to be so horrible!"

"It was a shock to everyone, ma'am," Sofia assured her.

"Yes, but we shouldn't dwell on how horrible Grimtrix is," Miss Lovegood broke in. "We should figure out a way to stop him and free all those people from those awful spells."

Everyone agreed, and went out to see what they could do to take Grimtrix down and free everyone from the spells he had cast.

 **Author's Notes**

 **Thanks to Niagara14301 for helping with some of the details for this chapter.**

 **Thanks also to theblindwriter95 for coming up with some ideas for the chapter, and suggesting John Michael Montgomery's _Life's a Dance_ for Sofia and her friends.**

 ** _Wing-a-rooble-doo_ is a spell used in Baileywhoops.**

 **Evie still has her magic mirror; this story takes place before the events of Descendants 2.**

 **Sandra's memory of the winged shoes Tilly gave her is from a conversation they had in chapter 8 of my story A Puzzling Mystery Weekend.**

 **Melinda telling Isabel that Raul and Lucia loved her drawing is based on the Elena episode A Day to Remember.**

 ** _Langlock_ is from Harry Potter, and according to Sandra's memory, was used on Ezekiel and Deidre in chapter 9 of my story The Secret Love Song.**

 **While it's true that Lucinda's amulet summoned Queen Melinda, Sofia's amulet did not summon anyone; it was alerting her that the spell that Wendell and Sandra were under had been lifted.**

 **Vivian's reply to Amber's "Tell me something I don't know" is taken from chapter 33 of Do You Want to Sing Together XVI.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Quick note: The song used in this chapter is not mine; it belongs to its original artist.**

As Sofia and her friends were looking through the books for spells that could free everyone, Candice saw Sandra looking through another notebook. "Maybe this one, but I don't know if it's strong enough for all of them…" she mused.

"What is it?" Candice asked. "And where did you get that notebook?"

"I've had this notebook for a while," Sandra replied, "When you brought your copy of Maleficent's spellbook to Orillia so Aleena could look at it, you gave us permission to copy any spells we thought were interesting."

"Oh, yes," Candice grinned. "I thought I'd have to make a copy of the book itself, since Miss Aleena wrote down just about every spell in there!"

"She didn't write down _all_ the spells," Sandra assured her, "She left the really dark ones alone."

"Gee, thanks," Candice smirked. "But why did you bring that with you?"

"Since I'm going to be participating in some magical workshops here," Sandra explained. "I thought I'd show everyone what I picked up from the book, as well as what Aleena's been teaching me. I looked through the book and I wrote down a few of my favorites."

"That makes sense," Candice admitted. "But what spell were you thinking of when I came over?"

"This one," Sandra pointed at a page.

Candice nodded as she read with her, _"'The strength of evil is good as one, which stands before four hearts as one.'_ That's a good one! But we'll need a lot of people to help cast it, since there are a lot of people to help."

"I remember that spell," Evie agreed, remembering how Mal had used it when she faced off against her mother.

"If it worked to free Sandra's family, it can work again, but you're right that we should test your idea," Lucinda agreed.

"I think I know how we can do that," Wendell spoke up. "Sandra, didn't you say you could turn invisible?"

"Yes," Sandra nodded.

"And why do you want her to be invisible, Wendell?" his mother asked.

"If she's invisible, she can lure some of the students back here, and she can try that spell she was talking about," Wendell explained.

"Good idea," Sandra smiled, before frowning a little. "I just hope it'll work."

"After everything that's happened so far today, I'm sure that it will work," Sofía said in encouragement.

"I'll try it. Just to be sure," Sandra muttered, holding up her amulet. "I wish to be invisible."

Everyone watched as her footprints walked in the direction of a group of Grimtrix's spies. They saw red sparks coming out of her wand and hit some of the people, who fell to the ground.

"I can turn invisible too, you know," Amber whispered to Wendell.

"Maybe, but you don't have your training wand with you," Sofia pointed out, "Remember? It's still in your room at home."

"I still could have helped," Amber pointed out. "I could have been a lookout for Sandra."

"Sorry," Wendell apologized.

"Don't worry about it, either of you," his mother said as Sandra re-appeared. "that fact that two of your friends can turn invisible like that is still impressive."

"Little help?" Sandra called, waving them over.

"Ruby!" Sofia gasped when she saw one of the figures Sandra had stunned. "And you got Callista too!"

"Yeah, sorry about that, Sof," Sandra apologized.

"Don't worry; we all know they're under spells, so they can't help it," Sofia assured her.

"Okay, girls, we've got work to do," Dorrie took charge. "Those with wands, get them out!" She grinned as Candice turned herself into White Maleficent. "Everyone ready?"

"That's impressive as well, young lady; I had no idea you could do that," Wendell's mother smiled.

"I saw her do that when she practiced spells at Enchancia Castle, Mum," Wendell explained. "She was really good!"

"Thanks, Wendell," Candice smiled, "But now, ladies, let's do this!" She raised her staff, and Dorrie, Sandra, and Lucinda aimed their wands at Ruby and Callista. "You too, Zoe; although you don't remember this spell, I think Sandra might have taught it to you at a later time."

Sandra pointed at the spell, and she helped Zoe with the incantation as she and the girls chanted, _"The strength of evil is good as one, which stands before five hearts as one!"_

The girls chanted the spell a few times, and soon Ruby and Callista raised their heads again. "What happened?" Ruby asked, putting a hand to her head.

"You two were just freed from a spell," Sofia said as she helped her sit up.

"A spell?" Callista repeated.

"It's a long story, but don't worry! You're with us again!" Dorrie grinned, giving her a hug.

"What about everyone else?" Ruby asked, taking Sofia's hand.

"Can we help?" Calista asked, jumping up and down excitedly.

"Hold on; let's get you two over to Dorrie, Candice, Miss Lovegood, and Lucinda," Sofia smiled, "They'll look you two over just to see that there are no residual effects from the spell."

"Miss Lovegood, where's Jade? I thought she was right next to me," Ruby said as Miss Lovegood looked her over and gave her a clean bill of health a few moments later.

"It's all right, Ruby; Jade was with a group who was under a Shield Charm when we first saw Grimtrix," Miss Lovegood assured her. "When I learned that she was all right, I sent her to the Pepperton House common room for her safety."

Ruby sighed in relief at the thought of Jade's safety, smiling a little as Sofía squeezed her hand. "Do you know who's behind this?" she asked her, looking worried.

"We learned it was Grimtrix Truesdale," Sofia explained. "Remember? He showed up after James and Sandra did that first game and he started casting all those spells."

"Now that you mention it, I do remember that," Ruby agreed, recalling how she had been hit while she was applauding James and Sandra.

"It's times like this I'm glad I turned good," Evie murmured to Candice, who had turned back to normal when Ruby and Callista had been brought over to them.

"I'm glad I turned good too," Candice murmured back.

"I know some of us are excited, and believe me, I am too," Sofía agreed, seeing Calista jumping up and down in excitement. "But we need to help our friends!"

"And maybe continue what was supposed to be a friendly game?" Wendell asked, much to everyone's surprise. "Sorry, but James and Sandra's talk of word games earlier before all this has me interested."

"Do you think I could help with this too?" Isabel asked. "I'm pretty good at word games, and the first night of Elena's victory over Shuriki, Mateo, Esteban, and I were playing a word game against my grandparents and Elena."

"I remember," James agreed. "I was solving the puzzles where I was sitting, but Mom and Dad wouldn't let me go over and help you."

"They probably wanted to have some time to themselves first," Vivian suggested. "They'd been apart for so long and now they found each other again."

"Yes," Isabel smiled. "We used to play games like that with Mami and Papi too. My abuela always tried to stop me from helping everyone, saying that they could solve the puzzles themselves, and not everyone was as good with words as I was."

"Like a certain someone we know?" Ruby smirked, remembering Sofía telling her about James trying to help her and Amber whenever they played word games.

"Hey! It's not cheating! It's being helpful!" James pouted, causing Sofía to giggle.

"And let's not forget your partner-in-crime," Candice added, pointing at Sandra.

"What's everyone looking at me for?" Sandra asked innocently, "I'm the good one!"

"Can I use that line next time I get in trouble?" Wendell whispered.

"I've got a million of them, but I'll write the best ones down for you," Sandra whispered back.

"Speaking of being helpful, how about we start freeing the others?" Lucinda asked with a smile. "I wouldn't like them missing out on the fun."

"Me either," Candice agreed, with Dorrie nodding at her side.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Sofía grinned, taking the lead. "Let's get going!"

"I've got an idea," Ruby suggested, "Callista and I know what Grimtrix is planning. We could pretend we're still under his control, and when we think it's a good idea for you to join us, we'll send a signal."

"Then you could lure the people who are still under Grimtrix's control here, and we could free them from the spells," Vivian suggested.

"I'll do whatever I can to help those people," Wendell's mother promised.

"So will I," Wendell agreed.

"These ideas might work. Wendell and his mom just learned the spell to free everyone from the control, so they could help us too," Sofia agreed.

"That's right, Sof, we're all in this together!" James agreed.

"That sounds like a battle cry to me!" Candice said as she waved her wand and produced some music.

When the song started, she started singing, _Hey...ho...hey...ho...alright, here we go!_

Dorrie joined in, _Together, together, together, everyone  
Together, together, c'mon, let's have some fun!_

Isabel echoed, _Together, we're there for each other every time  
Together, together, come on let's do this right_

James took the first verse, _Here and now, it's time for celebration  
I've finally figured out_ (Wendell backed him up, _Yeah, yeah!)_  
 _That all our dreams_ (Wendell joined in _, Uh!_ ) _have no limitations  
That's what it's all about._ (Wendell shouted, _Come on now!)_

Vivian smiled as she joined him, _Everyone is special in their own way  
We make each other strong _(Sofia joined in, _Make each other strong)  
We're not the same; we're different in a good way  
Together's where we belong_

Everyone joined in for the chorus, _We're all in this together  
Once we know that we are, we're all stars and we see that  
We're all in this together  
And it shows when we stand hand-in-hand  
Make our dreams come true _(Ruby shouted, _Oh!_ )  
 _Everybody, now!  
_  
Evie joined Candice in a duet, _Together, together, together, everyone  
Together, together, come on, let's have some fun!  
Together, we're there for each other every time  
Together, together, come on let's do this right_

Sandra joined in, _We're all here and speaking out in one voice  
We're gonna rock the house_ (Zoe joined her, _Yeah, yeah!_ )

Isabel and Amber joined them, _The party's on, now everybody make some noise  
Come on, scream and shout!_

Lucinda joined them, _We've arrived because we stuck together  
Champions, one and all_

Everyone joined in the chorus again, _We're all in this together  
Once we know that we are, we're all stars and we see that  
We're all in this together  
And it shows when we stand hand-in-hand  
Make our dreams come  
_  
Ruby and Sofia did their special handclap as they sang, _We're all in this together  
When we reach, we can fly, know inside, we can make it_

Zoe and Callista joined in, _We're all in this together  
Once we see there's a chance that we have and we take it!_

Dorrie and Candice grinned as they started, _Hexley Hall, sing along  
Yeah, you really got it goin' on_

James smirked as he sang with Vivian, _Royal Prep in the house  
Everybody say it now  
_  
Evie smirked as she joined in, _Auradon, everywhere  
Wave your hands up in the air_

Wendell and Sandra joined in, _That's the way we do it, let's get to it  
Time to show the world  
_  
Lucinda and Isabel jumped in, _Hey...ho...hey...ho...all right, here we go!_

James and Amber joined in, _We're all in this together  
Once we know that we are, we're all stars and we see that_

Sofia and Dorrie sang back, _We're all in this together  
And it shows when we stand hand-in-hand  
Make our dreams come_

Zoe and Evie joined in, _We're all in this together  
When we reach, we can fly, know inside, we can make it  
We're all in this together  
Once we see there's a chance that we have and we take it!_

Everyone finished, _Everyone, everywhere  
Wave your hands up in the air  
That's the way we do it, let's get to it  
Come on, everyone!_

As they sang, they started getting ready for a final confrontation with Grimtrix. When the song was done, Sofia, James, Candice and Dorrie huddled together. A few moments later, they broke apart and said that Ruby and Calista should pretend to still be under the spell they were just broken out of as Sofia, James, Candice and Dorrie huddled together.

Hoping that their plan would work after much discussion, the group broke apart, watching their plan unfold.

 **Author's Notes**

 **Thanks to theblindwriter95 for helping with this chapter.**

 **Thanks also to Niagara14301 for helping with some of the details on this chapter.**

 **We're All in This Together is from High School Musical, and can be found in chapter 1 of Do You Want to Sing Together 3.**

 **Wendell would know about Candice turning into a good version of Maleficent, since he saw her do that in chapter 22 of Niagara14301's Dorrie Book 2.**

 **'The strength of evil is good as one, which stands before four hearts as one' is from Descendants, and can also be found in chapter 7 of my story The Rise and Fall of Eze Gray. (I made it 'five', since Dorrie, Candice, Lucinda, Sandra, and Zoe were casting the spell.)**

 **Ruby and Sofia's special handclap was first seen in Four's a Crowd, then later in Princess Jade.**


	9. Chapter 9

"You think it'll fool him?" James asked seconds into their plan unfolding.

"I hope so. Maybe," Sofia muttered, a little unsure.

"You don't sound confident like you usually are," James noticed with a frown.

"It's been a while since we've seen Grimtrix," Sofia admitted. "The last time he and I faced each other was at the castle when Mister Cedric had the Medusa Stone."

"If you want, those with wands can use our Patronuses to get backup," Candice suggested.

"The more people here, the better," Vivian agreed.

"Okay, and to distract him, Callista and I'll go back to Grimtrix. We can say we found you, and then when he comes, we can all attack," Ruby suggested.

"I'll go with you," Dorrie suggested. "You could pretend that you captured me when I tried to break the spell you were under. You could make me lead you to the others, then we could attack."

"Great. And Sofia? We'll be okay," Ruby assured, seeing Sofia's face turn from relief to worry.

"Thanks Ruby," Sofia smiled as Ruby started to walk away with Dorrie behind her.

"Ready, everyone?" Candice asked.

"Okay, but I don't know how to make the Patronuses talk," Sandra spoke up. "I know they're used to protect the person who casts them, but they're also used as ways to communicate with other people, but I'm not sure how to make it speak."

"Didn't you say you talked to Zanven's Patronus that one time?" Zoe asked.

"Yes, but I was probably thinking out loud or something," Sandra shrugged. "I heard what it said, but I don't know if it heard me."

"Let's try anyway," Candice suggested, huddling into a group.

"And hope it works?" Zoe suggested with a smile.

"Not hope. It will work," Sandra assured her, hugging her close.

"I have an idea. I'll be right back," Lucinda Apparated to the castle and quickly retrieved Sofia's wand, and James and Amber's training wands, coming back to her friends before anyone noticed her. "The more wands we have, the better, right?" she asked.

"Good move, Lucy!" Sofia smiled. "I know James and I had Patronuses in a story he wrote, but I don't know if Amber has one."

"That's right," James remembered. "The next day at Royal Prep following that story, we told the fairies about it. They coached us on how to make the Patronuses for real, and you made your rabbit appear, and I got my monkey again!"

"I recently got my Patronus too," Vivian smiled.

"What was it?" Zoe asked.

"Tell us!" Sofia smiled, happy for her friend.

"I'm betting a dragon," James smirked as Sofia playfully nudged him.

"Actually, it's this," Vivian smiled. She glanced at James, remembering his first Secret Singer serenade, and recited, _"Expecto Patronum!"_ Everyone watched as a silver doe come out of her wand.

"That's really pretty, Vivian!" Sofia smiled.

"Let me see if I can make one," Amber suggested. She was tempted to think of any time she went to the Jewel Room, but she remembered discovering Amberina Major, and recited, _"Expecto Patronum!"_

When he saw what Amber had produced, James grinned. "Why am I not surprised about that?"

"What is it?" Isabel asked.

"Since Amber loves astronomy so much, it's only fitting that a star-nosed mole is her Patronus!" James grinned.

"Like yours is a monkey and Sofia's is a rabbit?" Amber playfully teased.

"Amber, remember why we're here," Sofia smiled, gently nudging her. "And it's not to tease our brother."

"I heard that!" James pouted, causing both girls to giggle.

"Guys, less fighting amongst each other, more planning for when we meet Grimtrix again," Candice suggested.

"Right," Wendell spoke up. "I'll have to find out my own Patronus so it can help too." When he cast the spell, he saw a small silver bird fly out of his wand. "What's that?" he asked; he didn't sound disappointed that it was bigger, since he knew his mother summoned a squirrel as hers, he sounded curious.

"That's a swift, Wendell," his mother explained, "I used to take you and your father birdwatching when you were younger, and we saw birds like that one."

"I thought when I summoned a Patronus, it would be bigger," Wendell shrugged.

"Shake it off, Wendell!" Sandra quipped.

"You're lucky I also like that singer, Sandra," Wendell tried to frown, but he ended up smiling at the little joke.

"Back to planning! Come on!" Amber beckoned, clapping her hands.

"Amber's right. Especially if we want everyone out of his spell," Sofia muttered, shuddering a little.

"Sofia, we'll be okay. We'll get him," Isabel assured her with a smile.

"But Amber is right," Candice spoke up. "And I want to know if Ruby, Callista, and Dorrie managed to find Grimtrix."

"Okay, Candice, come with me," Sandra agreed. "And Amber, you pick someone to come with you. We'll go check on Dorrie. If there's any trouble, we'll send up red sparks. If not, we'll come right back."

"Sounds like a plan," Sofia smiled.

Sandra took Candice's arm. "I wish Candice and I were invisible."

When they disappeared, Amber took Sofia's arm. "I hope I'm doing this right, but...I wish Sofia and I were invisible."

"You were great, Amber," Sofia whispered as they followed Candice and Sandra.

"Thank you, Sofia," Amber whispered back, smiling back.

"Anytime," Sofia smiled, feeling Sandra and Candice come to a stop.

They saw Ruby and Callista lead Dorrie to Grimtrix. "She thought she'd try to talk to us, Master," Ruby started.

"Well, it was a noble attempt, Lady Dorrie, but there's nothing to talk about," Grimtrix smiled. He cast a bubble around Dorrie. "Now," he turned back to Ruby and Callista, "What have you discovered about Sofia and her friends?"

"Unfortunately, nothing," Callista tried to sound sad, "We only ran into her friend."

"Don't worry, little one," Grimtrix smirked as he patted her head, "You captured her, and that's what counts. We'll use her as bait. Right now, you two go back to your posts."

When Grimtrix dismissed them, Ruby and Callista ran right to where Amber, Sofia, Candice, and Sandra were waiting for them.

"Do we catch him now?" Calista asked with a frown. "Pretending to be sad isn't fun."

"Don't worry; when he's distracted, we'll get him," Ruby assured her with a hug.

"I just hope it'll work," Amber muttered as she wished for herself and Sofia to be visible again.

"You don't have to worry about that anymore, Callista, and I noticed that he didn't leave anyone guarding Dorrie," Sofia agreed.

"I've got this," since she was still invisible, Sandra sneaked over to Dorrie. _"Let loosium!"_

"Nice job," Dorrie grinned as Sandra re-appeared. "And not just with the invisibility!"

"Thanks," Sandra grinned. "Let's go."

They made their way back to the others, where they saw Evie with her mirror out. "I thought I'd keep an eye on Grimtrix. So far, he doesn't know Dorrie escaped; he's just with some of his groups making plans. I'll keep up the mirror surveillance and tell you when we should strike."

"Sounds great, Evie," Zoe smiled as she hugged her.

"Thanks again for helping us out," Dorrie said with a smile.

"We couldn't do it without you," Sofia added with a smile of appreciation.

"Okay," Evie smiled. "Now, since I've never seen Patronuses before, do you think you could show me how they work?"

"Sure," Dorrie smiled. "All of those who can produce Patronuses stay close to me so I can help make them speak, and we'll have help before we know it."

"I think Mother knows how to do that, so she can help me," Wendell added.

"Don't worry, dear, I know how to do that," his mother assured him.

At the same time, Zoe, Vivian, Sandra, Sofia, James, Amber, Dorrie, Candice, and Lucinda aimed their wands at different areas of the sky, focused on the happiest memories they could think of, and shouted together, _"Expecto Patronum!"_

They watched as the dachshund, doe, mink, rabbit, monkey, star-nosed mole, wolf, phoenix, and a magpie flew out of their respective wands. Lucinda smiled when they saw her Patronus. "Father used to call me his little magpie," she smiled.

"Good afternoon, your Ladyship!" Wendell bowed.

"Yes, Wendell, when a magpie crosses your path, greet them properly, then go the other way," his mother agreed. "But this time, we won't have to do that."

Sofia and Amber laughed at the thought before looking at Dorrie and Candice alongside the others. They weren't going to let the rest of their day be ruined any more than what it was.

"Do you think we summoned help with our Patronuses?" Zoe asked.

Sandra looked around, and she saw a familiar flying coach coming from the southeast. "I think help just started arriving. Look!"

Zoe looked up and saw the familiar burgundy colored coach that Aleena had used to go to Tangu. "Aleena!"

"Hello, Zoe!" Aleena smiled as she exited the coach with her father behind her. "First, congratulations on making a Patronus! I should have guessed it would be Spike, since you love that dachshund! Second, it's wonderful to be back at Hexley Hall!"

"Is there anything we can do to help...Esme? Esme Abbott? Is that you? It's been so long!" Aleena's father asked, seeing Wendell's mother.

"It's Esme Fidget now, Professor Zanven," Esme smiled. "This is my son, Wendell. He attends Hexley now too."

"No offense, everyone, but there'll be time for a cozy catch-up later!" Sandra cut in, "We've got a problem, and we need your help!"

"What do you need?" Aleena wondered.

"Distractions," Sofia explained. "There's a man here that once almost had Mr. Cedric use his Medusa stone on me."

"Medusa stone?" Aleena started to tear up. "Grimtrix Truesdale! Daddy, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to participate in the Order of the Wand! I thought it was going to be like a separate seminar where we learned magic that would help our kingdoms!"

"Aleena, sweetheart, I know all about it," Zanven murmured, taking her in his arms and stroking her hair. "You told me everything that night, and King Robert, Princess Sandra, and I told you to keep the Medusa Stone you were given, remember? We said to use it to defend yourself or others."

"I don't want to be like Ezekiel," Aleena sniffled.

"And you won't be," Zanven assured her, "He stole my potion to take over Orillia. You came home right away and confessed what was happening. And the fact that you're afraid of what happened means that you could never turn on the kingdom."

"That sounds familiar," Candice mused, recalling a similar conversation she'd had with someone.

"I know," Sofia agreed before hugging Aleena. "It had been rough for my family to even trust Mr. Cedric again, but when he sacrificed himself for me, Dad was able to trust him again."

"He would've never had done that for anyone before you came to the castle, Sofia," Amber mused, smiling a little.

"Don't think about it anymore, you two, but look at that! We've got more help coming!" Dorrie grinned, pointing at some approaching figures.

"Elena!" Isabel cheered. "And she brought Mateo!"

"Isa, I'm glad you're safe...and I love the outfit," Princess Elena smiled, taking in Isabel's witch disguise, "Mateo and I saw Dorrie's Patronus, and we got on the first Jaquins we could find."

"You think Mateo knows a spell that can help us?" Sofia asked.

"If not, I can use the scepter," Princess Elena smiled before seeing Sofia's look of alarm. "Don't worry, I've gotten better at using it."

"That's good to hear, Elena," Sofia smiled. "We'll need all the help we can get against Grimtrix."

"That man who tried to steal the amulet?" Princess Elena recalled from Sofia's last letter with disgust.

"You don't take to kindly to anyone who takes Sofia's amulet, do you?" Amber guessed with a smile.

"Amber, I know you also took the amulet, but you returned it to Sofia and learned a valuable lesson. You also have your own amulet now," Princess Elena smiled. "But I can understand that you were curious about what it did and why you wanted to use it."

"She's come a long way since then, Elena," Sofia smiled.

"Wands ready! I spot him!" Dorrie yelled, not meaning to interrupt the joyous moment Sofia and Princess Elena were having.

"Sandra, focus!" Zoe grinned, seeing Sandra stroking Skylar and Luna, instead of standing next to her.

"Right; get evil person first, play with giant flying kitties later!" Sandra grinned as she whipped her wand out again.

"Sounds like a plan," Wendell grinned.

"First, let's hit Grimtrix where it would hurt him the most," Zanven suggested, "We need to disarm him."

"May I, sir?" Mateo asked. He aimed his tamborita at Grimtrix. "Canaza!"

"Great job, Mateo!" Princess Elena cheered with a smile.

"Way to go!" Sofía added with a giggle.

"Yes, but now that we have Grimtrix's wand, what do we do with it?" Vivian asked.

"Destroy the Medusa Stone, for starters," Aleena shuddered. "If I ever see anything like that again, it'll be too soon!"

"You do know there's a Medusa Stone in our castle jewel room, right?" Sandra whispered.

"Yes, but that's under lock and key!" Aleena smirked.

"I've done it before, I can do it again!" Sofia yelled, holding the Medusa Stone before dropping it to the floor.

"Well done, Princess Sofia," Aleena smiled when it shattered.

"Aleena, you disappoint me," Grimtrix smirked. "You have so much potential, and yet you waste your talent serving the king. But then again, you always were the sweet and sensitive one. It's true that you left the meeting first, but when I checked on your progress, what did I find? You were crying in the princess's arms! So weak! You're not fit to rule a kingdom, just like that bungler Cedric!"

"That's enough, Grimtrix! It's one thing to convince royal sorcerers to take over their respective kingdoms, but when you insult my daughter, you go too far!" Zanven yelled. He turned to Mateo. "Come on, boy. I'm going to need your help."

"Yes, sir!" Mateo grinned.

"You can do it, Mateo!" Princess Elena encouraged with a smile. "You must believe the magic within you!"

"Slow and steady does the trick!" Sofia yelled as Amber and James shook their heads in amusement.

"You've been hanging out with Cedric way too much," Amber smiled, mussing her hair.

"He did offer good advice," Sofia smiled. "Remember when we learned the Sorcerer's Secret?"

"You're right," Vivian smiled. "We didn't give up when we stopped those pranksters, and we won't give up now!"

"Admirable thought, my dear, but that can't stop me!" Grimtrix shouted as several Hexley Hall students came up. "My children! Get them all!"

"Sorry I do this, Shawna, but... _Stupefy_!" Sandra shot a Stunning spell at Shawna, who was coming right at her.

"Well done, but don't apologize, Princess Sandra! I know it's not her fault, but you've got to focus!" Zanven shouted, fending off another student.

"This could get their attention," Evie suggested. "But can someone fire a beam of light at my mirror?"

"No problem," Sofia agreed.

"Why would you want to ruin a perfectly good mirror?" Amber asked.

"It's magic, Amber," James rolled his eyes, "It won't break."

"He's right," Evie assured her. "Have you ever shined a light in someone's eyes from a mirror to blind them?"

"Yes," Amber nodded, knowing that James hated that when he was working on papers.

"This is the same thing," Evie explained, "But instead of playing a joke on them, we're going to help them."

"Okay," Amber agreed as Sofia aimed her wand at Evie's mirror.

"If they try to get up, we can try to stun them," Callista offered.

"It can't hurt, and it did work for Sandra's friend," Candice agreed. "And while they're out, we can try to reverse the spell. I'll turn into White Maleficent again and cast this other spell I have. Hopefully it should work on them."

"You won't have the chance!" Grimtrix yelled, having used his mind to get his wand again.

"Stay behind me!" Mateo pulled Zoe behind him and aimed his tamborita at him. "Vetzi!"

Princess Elena was right beside him. She aimed her scepter at Grimtrix. "Blaze!"

"I hope it works," Sofia muttered, looking on.

"What happened to you being reassuring?" James smirked, but he squeezed her hand. He was trying to be brave, but he was worried for Princess Elena and Mateo too.

At the same time, Sofia aimed her wand at Evie's mirror. _"Lumos Maxima!"_ she yelled.

The spell had the result she wanted. Every person under Grimtrix's control was knocked flat.

"Sof, I've said this before, and I have to say it again. That. Was. BRILLIANT!" James cheered.

"Thanks, James, now let's let Candice work her magic now," Sofia grinned as Candice came up and turned herself into White Maleficent again. She watched the unfolding with pride, grateful for her friends and their experiences with all sorts of magic. She watched as Candice started drawing a large circle on the ground with her staff.

When everything was ready, Candice motioned for Sofia, Lucinda, Dorrie, Vivian, Amber, Sandra, and Zoe to come into the circle with her.

"What are we doing?" Zoe asked from where she stood between Candice and Sandra.

"Remember that spell we used to free Ruby and Callista?" Candice asked. "We're going to use it again. This magic circle will keep us safe, help us free everyone, and it will enhance the power of our wands."

"Shouldn't those with training wands help too?" Sofia asked, motioning toward Zoe and Amber.

"You're right," Candice agreed, "The more wands, the better, and the stronger the spell becomes."

"What about me and Wendell?" James asked.

"We're going to need guards as we cast the spell," Candice explained. "You two, Callista, and Ruby stay close to us. Only those under Grimtrix's spell will be affected."

James nodded with a smile, seeing Zoe and Amber hold out their wands with their more experienced friends.

With Sofía's help, Amber was becoming better with magic and practiced whenever she could.

At the same time, from where she and Mateo were helping her father, Aleena smiled. She knew Zoe had shown a lot of improvement since she'd started taking lessons from her.

Beside her, Mateo was smiling himself. He'd read up on some famous wizards, and he knew that Zanven was a legendary potioneer, and an excellent sorcerer. He was honored to be working alongside him and wanted to learn all he could from him. As he remembered some of the spells he'd cast, he remembered one of his first magical battles and tapped Aleena's shoulder. "Miss Aleena, I have a spell that might work," he whispered, "I used it once against a malvago in Avalor. Aim your wand at this person, and when I give you the word, say 'Akatok.'"

"Okay," Aleena whispered. She smiled softly at the boy. And from what she read on Avalor, he was doing his grandfather proud.

Following his instruction, she held her wand to where Mateo had requested her to aim it.

They watched as Grimtrix started moving toward Sofia and her friends. They smiled as James and Wendell cast a few Impediment Hexes at him, and his movements slowed considerably.

"Nice job, you two, but we'll take it from here!" Mateo smiled. "Now, Miss Aleena!"

"Akatok!" Aleena yelled with Mateo, her wand close to where Mateo had wanted it to be.

"I hope it works," Sofía whispered with a frown.

"Don't worry. It will," Mateo assured her with a smile.

"I think it did. Look!" Aleena gasped, seeing Grimtrix stiffen.

"Well done, dear!" Esme smiled as Grimtrix turned to stone before their eyes.

"It's been a long time since I've seen that spell," Zanven smiled. "Both of you were incredible!"

"And now, it's our turn," Candice spoke up, turning to her friends. "Ready, ladies?"

"Let's do it!" Dorrie grinned, their friends nodding in agreement.

"Great!" Candice couldn't help giggling, seeing everyone aim their wands at the stone statue of a man that was once a threat.

"Candice, focus," Lucinda teased her.

"Right. Free the students first, laugh at Grimtrix later," Candice grinned. She led the girls in reciting, "The strength of evil is good as none, which stands before eight hearts as one!"

As the chanting got louder, the light that came out of their wands grew stronger. The light surrounded all the students, who collapsed to the ground. Everyone watched as dark lights came out of the students, who all got to their feet.

Zoe and Sandra's friend Shawna was the first to speak when all the lights faded. "What happened?"

"It's a long story, Shawna," Candice, who had returned to normal, said as she led her over to Miss Lovegood, "Right now, everyone needs to see Miss Lovegood, Dorrie, Lucinda, Mrs. Fidget, Zanven, Aleena, or myself, and we'll check you over to make sure you're okay."

Shawna nodded, walking over to Miss Lovegood so she could be checked out.

She, understandingly, didn't know what was going on or why she and many others had seen a bright light.

But that was now the least of her worry.

It took a long time for the students to be checked out, but eventually they were all given a clean bill of health.

"That's great, Miss Lovegood, but what do we do with Grimtrix?" Sofia asked, motioning toward the statue.

"We'll keep that statue in a special corner of Hexley Hall's basement," Miss Lovegood replied, "It's used to keep dangerous items, but don't worry; it has a spell on it that neutralizes their power, and it's under 24-hour surveillance."

"But what about Game Day?" a Waldgrave student asked.

"And the workshops?" a Kennicot student piped up.

"Should we cancel them and have everything at a later time?" Miss Lovegood asked.

"If I may say so, Miss Lovegood," Sofia spoke up, "I've often run into this situation, and I've learned that if we postpone an event when someone attacks, the attacker wins, even if this time he's turned to stone."

"She's right," Dorrie agreed, "We've caught Grimtrix, he'll never bother us again, and everyone's all right."

"You do make a good point, girls," Miss Lovegood mused. She considered everything for a few minutes, then said, "All right! If all of you feel this strongly about it, we'll let those who were affected by Grimtrix's spells recover with some refreshments in the conjurteria, and Game Day and the workshops will commence!"

 **Author's notes**

 **Thanks to theblindwriter95 for helping write this chapter of the story.**

 **Thanks also to Niagara14301 for helping with some of the details of this chapter.**

 **Sandra's experience with talking Patronuses was from chapter 8 of my story The Rise and Fall of Eze Grey. (While it's true that she cast her own Patronus to get help from Zanven, it didn't speak like his did.)**

 **James made a monkey Patronus for the first time in chapter 5 of my story The Enchancian Canine Caper. And it's only fitting that Amber, with her love of astronomy, makes a star-nosed mole as hers!**

 **Medusa Stones were seen and used in Day of the Sorcerers.**

 **Sandra's joke of "Shake it off!" is a reference to the Taylor Swift song, since Wendell also made a swift as his Patronus.**

 **"There's time for a cozy catch-up later" is from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1.**

 **Amber got an amulet of her own in my story Royal Blood, and it granted her the power of invisibility in chapter 7 of The Rise and Fall of Eze Grey.**

 **"Let loosium" is from The Fliegel Has Landed.**

 **Wendell's and his mother's conversation about magpies is from the Peter Pan and the Pirates episode Friday the Thirteenth.**

 **Zanven's assurance that Aleena would not be evil was taken from chapter 15 of Niagara14301's Dorrie Book 2.**

 **Sofia's conversation with Aleena was taken from In Cedric We Trust.**

 **Canaza, Vetzi, Akatok, and Elena's "Believe the magic within you" are from the Elena of Avalor episode Spellbound.**

 **Lumos Maxima, Stupefy and Impediementa are from Harry Potter.**


	10. Chapter 10

When she saw the statue of Grimtrix being taken to the special security area, Miss Lovegood ordered a search of the school for Chester, Pumpkin, and Wriggley. They were found quickly and brought out to everyone.

"It figures they'd be filling their faces in the conjurteria," an older student from Pepperton commented. "But at least the cat was found in your office, Miss Lovegood."

"Now that you found them, what are you going to do with them?" Vivian asked.

"First, I'm going to do this," Miss Lovegood replied. She aimed her wand at Wriggley, Chester, and Pumpkin, and fitted each of them with magical restraining bands.

"That's just like what I did when Zeke was brought before the magical tribunal," Aleena mused.

"If I may suggest something, Miss Lovegood," Professor Silvia Sage, head of Kennicot House, requested, "I think these animals should be adopted by the teachers and retrained, as it were, to be good, and helpful around the school."

"An excellent idea," Miss Lovegood smiled. "Of course you know, Silvia, that they'll have to wear those magic restraining bands until they prove that they can be trusted."

When the arrangements had been made for Chester, Pumpkin, and Wriggley to be adopted by the teachers, they drew names to see who would get them.

Silvia smiled as she held Pumpkin up. "I think you'll like living with me," she said to him. "You might not think so now, but we're going to be good friends. I'll give you all the love and respect you could ever want. And luckily for us, my brother's not around anymore. You wouldn't like him anyway; he claims to be allergic to cats, but I say it's all in his head!"

"I know, right?" Sandra said as she stroked Pumpkin. "And Professor Sage, make sure you have lots of chicken. I fed that to Pumpkin in the conjurteria, and he loved it!"

"I will," Silvia smiled. "I take it you have a cat too? And someone in your family thinks they're allergic to cats? "

"My cat's name is Ambre, and my brother Ezekiel claimed to be allergic, but he was fine with dogs," Sandra explained.

"That's how Snively was!" Silvia grinned. "I always wanted a cat, but my parents told me that I couldn't have one because of his allergies!"

"The knights at my castle encouraged me to keep Ambre, since Spike was always with Ezekiel, so he wouldn't be going near him. And it was okay with my dad, since he'd grown up with cats," Sandra continued, "And another way it works out is that Spike chased Ambre when he first came to my castle, and I told him to leave him alone. Since then, Spike and Ambre always avoided each other, but they worked together when they had to. I've had Ambre since he was a kitten. My dad gave him some chicken when I first adopted him, and he's been hooked on it ever since!"

At the same time, Professor Fallon Griffin, head of Waldgrave House, adopted Chester. She smiled, since she'd taken care of the bulldog before, so they knew each other. She looked down at him, and he seemed happy with the arrangement.

As for Wriggley, she was looking up at Professor Brad DeRoche, the new Magical Beasts and Creatures teacher. She didn't seem happy, but she knew how good he was when it came to animals.

"Give it time," DeRoche assured her, "We'll be friends before you know it."

At the same time, Evie was looking at something in her mirror. She looked surprised, but also a little worried.

"Is everything okay, Evie?" Zoe asked.

"I just got a message from Jay and Carlos," Evie murmured, "Mal went back to the Isle. I need to go back to Auradon right away and convince her to come back with me."

"Is there anything we can do to help you?" Sandra asked, glancing around at her friends.

"No; this is something my friends and I need to do," Evie assured her. "I appreciate you asking, but we can do this ourselves."

"Well, okay, but if you change your mind, let us know," Sofia agreed. "We're all friends here, and you're one of our friends now too."

Evie smiled. "Thank you, everyone. I'm glad I was able to help you."

"And it was so great meeting you, Evie!" Zoe smiled as she hugged her.

Evie smiled as she hugged her back. Zoe reminded her of Dizzy Tremaine, Drizella's daughter who still lived on the Isle. She said she was like a little sister to her, and she was happy to have another little girl like her so much.

"Before you go, Evie, I have something for you, and for Princess Sofia and her friends," Miss Lovegood aimed her wand at the group, and wrapped boxes appeared in their hands.

Sofia, Amber, Zoe, Sandra, Isabel, and Vivian opened the packages, and each of them found a Hexley Hall uniform, each consisting of a dark blue blazer with a white Peter Pan collar blouse, and a long flowing dark purple skirt. Sofia, Isabel, and Amber noticed Pepperton House patches on their blazers, while Vivian and Sandra found Waldgrave House patches on theirs, and Zoe found a Stryker House patch on hers.

Evie smiled when she unwrapped her package. She had the same outfit, but instead of a Hexley Hall house patch, she had the Auradon coat of arms. "Thank you so much!"

"Brilliant! But what about me?" James asked.

"Don't worry, Prince James; even though I think you'd look so cute in a skirt, I've got a boy's uniform for you," Miss Lovegood grinned.

Ignoring Wendell's laughter, which he was trying to disguise as a coughing fit, James also smirked at the thought as he opened his package and discovered a blue blazer with the Pepperton House patch on it, a white shirt, and purple pants. "Like I said, this is brilliant! Thank you, Miss Lovegood!" he smiled, the girls echoing their thanks.

"You're most welcome, everyone," Miss Lovegood smiled, "And you can wear those uniforms to future events at Hexley Hall, and if for some reason that Royal Prep is cancelled, you can attend classes here, since it doesn't have the same schedule."

Wendell's mother smiled beside her. "And Prince James, don't mind Wendell," she assured him, giving her son a mock frown, "That outfit will look very handsome on you."

"And now, I've got to be going," Evie smiled, "I'm glad I was able to help you, and I'm sure I can find a way to design clothes based on these great new outfits."

"Thanks for all your help, Evie," Sandra smiled.

"Evie, before you go, can I ask you something?" Candice asked. "You know Maleficent, right? And I met her daughter Mal when she was a baby. I know she's older now, but does she ever talk about me?"

"Mal's one of my best friends," Evie smiled, "And she does talk about you. In fact, when she and I were still living on the Isle with Maleficent and all the other VKs, Maleficent would tell us stories about you. She'd warn us not to turn good, but you can see how that turned out!"

Candice laughed with her as Evie disappeared, and Miss Lovegood called for everyone's attention.

Miss Lovegood turned to Sofia and her friends. "Now then, I think the first thing we should do is award all of you fifty points apiece for all you did for us!" Everyone cheered as Miss Lovegood looked at the Hexley Hall hourglasses. "So that's fifty each for Princess Sofia, Princess Amber, Prince James, Princess Lucinda, Princess Isabel, Lady Dorrie, and Lady Candice," Everyone cheered as a large shower of rubies spilled into the lower half of Pepperton's hourglass, "Fifty each for Princess Sandra and Princess Vivian," the cheering resumed a shower of topazes spilled into the lower half of Waldgrave's hourglass, "And fifty each for Wendell and Princess Zoe," the cheering once again resumed as a shower of sapphires spilled into the lower half of Stryker's hourglass. As everyone applauded, Miss Lovegood aimed her wand at different areas of the school grounds. "I've also made a few other rewards for you, which you'll love! All you have to do is follow these clues." She handed them each a map and sent them on their way.

A while later, Amber, James, Sandra, Zoe, Isabel, Vivian, Lucinda, Candice, and Wendell came back with covered cages. When they lifted the covers, they all saw different kinds of owls blinking at them. Dorrie and Sofia followed them, and they each carried a book under their arms.

"Thank you so much, Miss Lovegood!" Vivian smiled, stroking the female Boreal owl in her cage, everyone echoing their thanks.

"This is wonderful! Now Hector can have some friends!" Sofia smiled, remembering the Mexican Spotted Owl she'd gotten from Isabel on her birthday. She didn't need another owl, but Miss Lovegood had given her a complete guide to owls, so she could teach James and Amber about their new owls.

"It's a good thing Daddy had those perches made for your owl, Sofia," Amber smiled, stroking her new male Spectacled owl.

"Now maybe ours can use them too," James added, stroking his new male striped owl.

"Sinistra can have some friends now, too," Sandra added, as she showed Aleena her new female barn owl.

"Yeah!" Zoe cheered, holding up her new female Scops owl.

"Sinistra will love them," Aleena smiled; her phoenix got along well with everyone, human or animal.

"Everyone in the palace can use this owl, Elena," Isabel offered, showing her sister her new male Cape eagle owl.

"That's very generous, Isa," Princess Elena smiled as she stroked him, and the owl stroked her wrist with his beak.

"It'll be interesting working with him," Mateo agreed; he'd never worked with owls, and he was looking forward to it.

"I may have a magpie as my Patronus, but I've always loved owls!" Lucinda smiled, stroking her new female Rufous owl

"You said your birth parents loved all kinds of birds," Sofia smiled, stroking Lucinda's new owl. "And you've got an owl as the headpiece on your Ravencatcher."

Since Dorrie already had a male snowy owl, Arnan, Miss Lovegood had given her a guide to owls, just like Sofia's, but hers included species she'd never heard of. But she and Candice grinned at Candice's male Buff-Fronted owl. "I remember you from when I was cleaning the Owlery," Candice smiled as she stroked him. She recalled that as she worked, one of the owls would follow her around.

"Nice to see you again, Lady Candice," the owl hooted, stroking her wrist with his beak.

"You worked with him before, Candice?" Zoe asked; she also had a pendant which allowed her to talk to and understand animals.

"That's right," Candice smiled, "I was assigned to clean the Owlery, and as I was working, I sensed someone following me…"

 _Flashback_

 _After what she'd done to Wendell following a student's sorting, Candice was assigned by Miss Lovegood to Hexley Hall's Owlery. She looked around when she saw the owls and some of the messes._

 _"With all due respect, Miss Lovegood, I hardly think of this as a punishment," she joked. "Since I'm a maid at Enchancia Castle, I'm used to cleaning. And let me guess…while I'm cleaning the Owlery, I'm not allowed to use magic?"_

 _"That would be correct, Lady Candice," Miss Lovegood nodded, but she smiled. "You'll be here for the day, or until everything's cleaned up."_

 _"That's all right," Candice nodded, "But will you talk to Dorrie and make arrangements with her to get any homework I might have to make up?"_

 _"Of course," Miss Lovegood smiled, and left her to her work._

 _As Candice started cleaning, she got the feeling of someone or something watching her. She didn't think much of it, since of course there were owls all over the Owlery. However, the feeling grew stronger when she saw an owl land close to her. "Hello," she greeted the male Buff-fronted owl who was watching her. "Have you been following me?"_

 _"Yes I have. Thank you so much for cleaning up around here!" the owl hooted, stroking her wrist with his beak._

 _"It's what I do," Candice smiled. "Do you want to help me? You can point out any messes hiding in dark areas or places I might miss."_

 _"Okay," the owl agreed._

 _After a long time, the Owlery was cleaned up. Candice gave her new friend some owl treats. "Thanks for all your help," she smiled as she stroked his feathers._

 _"I was glad to do it," the owl smiled. "I hope we get to work together again."_

 _"As do I," Candice smiled. "And if not, I can always come up and visit."_

 _"I'd like that," the owl hooted._

 _End flashback_

"It'll be nice for Arnan to have a new friend," Dorrie commented, "He and Hector get along well together, and I'm sure they'll welcome your new friend with open wings."

"I've met Arnan," Candice's owl hooted, "He's really nice."

Unaware of the conversation between Candice and her owl, Wendell was smiling as he stroked his female tawny owl's feathers. "I know you probably can't understand me, but I hope we can be friends."

"If you want to talk to your owl, I can help with that," Aleena smiled. She produced a medallion with a dark blue stone, aimed her wand at it, chanted a spell, and slipped it around his neck. "One of my favorite tricks is enchanting gems with little powers."

Wendell smiled. "Thank you, Miss Aleena," he turned back to his owl. "Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," the owl hooted.

"I'll be sure to be careful with this medallion," Wendell promised.

"Wendell, I told you before, that pin you had was old, so it was only a matter of time before something happened to it," his mother smiled. "but I know you'll be careful with this new medallion of yours."

"I have another surprise for three of you as well," Miss Lovegood announced, "Princess Amber, Prince James, Princess Zoe, come forward."

When they came up, Miss Lovegood said, "Good. Now hold your training wands out. Aleena, Zanven, Lady Dorrie, Lady Candice, could you come up and assist me?"

"I remember when we did something like this for Princess Sandra's new wand," Zanven smiled as he, Aleena, Dorrie, Candice and Miss Lovegood aimed their wands at Amber, James, and Zoe's training wands. "Of course, we had to start from scratch since the pieces were lost during that battle."

"Sorry, Zanven," Sandra said as she remembered what happened.

"It's all right, Princess Sandra, but here at Hexley Hall, when someone with a training wand does exceptional magic, the headmaster or headmistress turns the training wand into a real one," Miss Lovegood continued as they started casting spells on the wands.

In a few moments, Amber smiled as she held up her new wand, which was now very darkly colored and elegantly carved. Dorrie told her that it was 12 inches long, springy, and made of ebony, with a unicorn hair core.

James grinned as he held up his new wand, which was now lightly colored, and intricately carved. Candice told him that it was 12 and 3/4 inches long, made of hazel, with a core of unicorn hair, and had a swishy flexibility.

Zoe smiled as she heard Aleena tell her about her new wand. It was very lightly colored, made of plainly carved birch wood with a unicorn hair core. It was now 9 inches long, and according to Aleena, supple in flexibility.

"How wonderful! Zoe, I'll teach you all sorts of tricks you can use with your new wand!" Callista cheered.

"That's good, Callista, and I have another surprise for all of you," Miss Lovegood said as they put their wands away. "While you were learning about your new wands, I sent my own Patronus to Enchancia, Zumaria, and Orillia, and I explained about your new gifts. King Roland, King Robert, and King Marcus said you can keep your new owls, and they've started making plans for building an Owlery, so your new friends have a place to stay."

"We'll have to tell them about everything that happened when they come for Visitor's Day at the end of the week," Dorrie agreed.

"The time will go so fast you won't even notice," Miss Lovegood smiled, "And they'll be back here for the exhibition that workshop participants have on the last day."

Everyone cheered at the idea of showing their parents what they'd learned, and a few minutes later, went off to have some fun and recover from their adventure.

 **Author's Notes**

 **Thanks to Niagara14301 for helping with the details of this chapter.**

 **Thanks also to theblindwriter95 for helping with some details of this chapter.**

 **Aleena's memory of Ezekiel being fitted with a magical restraining band before going before a magical tribunal was from chapter 37 of Do You Want to Sing Together XVII.**

 **Professor Brad DeRoche is an original character of mine.**

 **Sandra's conversation with Silvia Sage is taken from chapter 1 of my story Pet Stories.**

 **Evie's departure back to Auradon could be like a tie-in to Descendants 2.**

 **Sofia's Mexican Spotted owl Hector was introduced in chapter 47 of Niagara14301's Dorrie Book 2. Dorrie's snowy owl Arnan was introduced in chapter 14 of Dorrie.**

 **Sinistra, Aleena's pet phoenix, was introduced in chapter 1 of theblindwriter95's and my story Royal Halloween Hijinks.**

 **Candice's flashback of working in Hexley Hall's Owlery was based on chapter 20 of Niagara14301's Dorrie Book 2.**

 **Sandra's first wand, which Dorrie and Candice made for her in my story Royal Blood, was destroyed in chapter 7 of my story The Rise and Fall of Eze Grey, and was replaced in chapter 10. Zanven worked with Aleena, Dorrie, and Candice before the celebration to surprise her with it.**

 **In chapter 45 of Dorrie Book 2, Sofia learns that she'll attend Hexley Hall part time. In my stories, she does not attend Hexley Hall, but she still gets a uniform to wear since she participates in the workshops and as a reward for all she did.**

 **Zoe was given a pendant to let her talk to and understand animals in chapter 3 of my story The Secret Love Song.**

 **Sofia's memory of Lucinda's Ravencatcher broom with its owl headpiece is from Cauldronation Day.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Quick note: I do not own the song used; it belongs to its original artist.**

At the end of the week, it was finally time for the Visitors' Day performance. Sofia and her friends grinned as they got ready and waited for their music start. Their performance would begin in twenty minutes, so they were talking with their families. Little did they know that they were going to get a surprise.

"Is everyone ready?" Sofia asked.

"If I may do something first, Princess Sofia," they heard a voice behind them.

Sofia and her friends turned. There, standing behind them, was Queen Annora herself. The queen of the witches smiled as the group bowed and curtsied to her. However, she smiled, since the girls had to use the hems of their shirts as skirts.

"Greetings, everyone," Annora smiled. "I've heard of several exciting things going on here over the past few days, and I've come to see if there was anything I could do to help you. However, it seems that you've got everything well under control. I've also agreed to ally myself and my witches with your kingdoms. Enchancia, Zumaria, Orillia, Avalor, and even Tangu will be well protected should anyone attack."

"But I'm not royalty," Wendell whispered. "Shouldn't she have discussed this with the king and queen of Tangu?"

"I did discuss it with the king and queen of Tangu," Annora smiled. "They wholeheartedly accepted my offer. And there's no need to be embarrassed," she added, seeing Wendell's look of discomfort. "It's perfectly all right to ask questions if you're not sure of something. But enough of those feelings now. All of you are to be commended for your parts in helping to defend Hexley Hall. And what better way to reward you than with these?" She aimed her wand at the group, and Sofia and her friends were all holding brooms.

"These are the new SkyCruise 1100 racing brooms!" Candice gasped. "Thank you, Queen Annora!"

"And yes, Amber, I'll use it outside," James whispered, seeing the look on her face. "We don't want another stained-glass window incident!"

"We know you'll be careful, James," Sofia smiled. "You've come a long way since then."

"Yes you have, James, but try not to drool on the broom!" Amber smirked, holding her handkerchief under James' mouth.

"Oh, Amber," Miranda smiled as she hugged her. "It's perfectly normal for someone to be this excited about getting a broom like that. But we know you'll all be careful."

"All of you have made us very proud," Roland smiled, mussing James' hair as he came over to the group. "Miss Lovegood told us everything that all of you did, and your mother and I couldn't be prouder of you. And you, young man," he added, turning to Wendell, who bowed to him, "I'm glad to see you've turned over a new leaf. While it's true that we didn't run into each other while you were working at the castle that week, we heard several interesting stories about you."

"I didn't mean to cause trouble, sir," Wendell muttered.

"You seem to have learned your lesson, and you did redeem yourself when you helped defend Hexley Hall and helped Camp Wilderwood win their race," Miranda smiled. "You've also got some good friends watching out for you now!"

Wendell smiled and bowed to her. "Thank you, ma'am!"

Roland smiled as he turned back to Amber. "And Amber, I just now noticed your hair. It looks beautiful!"

"Thanks, Daddy," Amber smiled, showing him her fishtail braid. "Sandra's friend Shawna did it for me. I asked her to write down how she did it so Marcy and Suzette can do it at home."

"Oh, yes," Dorrie grinned, motioning her over. "Shawna loves doing the Hexley Hall students' hair, and sometimes even the female teachers here ask her to do theirs!"

"It's just a hobby of mine," Shawna smiled as she came over to the group, from where she'd been talking to her parents. She curtsied to Roland and Miranda. "Your Majesties. I'm glad you liked the hairstyles I gave the girls."

"You did a wonderful job," Miranda smiled, admiring Sofia's inverted French braid. "You'll have to write down what you did so I can learn to do that!"

"You used to do my hair when we went to Villagers' Balls," Sofia remembered. "I told Shawna about some of the styles, and she did our hair like I described!"

Miranda smiled as she saw some of the braided hairstyles she used to give Sofia and her friends. "I remember that now. I also remember how you'd sometimes invite me to your sleepovers with Ruby and Jade, and I'd do all of your hair too!"

"If I may have your attention, everyone," Miss Lovegood called, "We'll get our Visitor's Day performance underway!"

"That's our cue!" Sofia called as she and her friends went behind the curtain Miss Lovegood had set up earlier that day.

When it opened, Candice stood in the middle of the stage, leafed through her spellbook and started the song, _Wicked ways beneath the skin..._  
 _All who taste it, now join in..._

Amber, James, Sofia, Lucinda, Dorrie, Sandra, Zoe, Vivian, Isabel, and Wendell joined her as they came bursting out of the bushes and jumping out from behind trees, _We got all the ways to be  
W-I-C-K-E-D  
We got all the ways to be  
W-I-C-K-E-D  
_  
James shouted, _Come on!_

At the same time, everyone shouted, _Hey, hey, hey, hey  
Hey, hey, hey, hey  
Hey, hey, hey, hey  
Hey, hey, hey, hey_

As she and Wendell had a friendly wand battle, Sandra started, _Crashing the party  
Guess they lost my invitation  
Friendly reminder  
Got my own kind of persuasion  
_  
Wendell smirked as he sang back, _Looks like this place could use  
A bit of misbehavior  
Happily ever after  
With a little flavor_

Sofia made sparkles around James and Vivian as he spun them as he joined in, _We're bad to the bone  
With even worse intentions  
We're gonna steal the show  
And leave 'em all defenseless  
_  
Vivian smiled as she sang back, _A fairy tale life can be  
Oh-so overrated  
So raise your voices and  
Let's get it activated_

As the song progressed, Candice grinned when she saw Evie appear in the crowd. Her grin widened when she joined her, along with her friends Mal, Jay and Carlos. _Long live havin' some fun  
We take what we want  
There's so many ways to be wicked_

Wendell, Zoe, James, and Lucinda echoed, _With us evil lives on the right side of wrong  
There's so many ways to be wicked  
_  
Sofia, Amber, Lucinda, Dorrie, and Isabel joined in, _Apple, apple  
Dip, dip  
Wanna try it?  
Tick, tick  
Take a bite  
Come on, be bold  
Change the way the story's told  
_  
Candice sang with Mal, _This time the dark is  
Finally getting your attention_

Evie sang with Zoe, _We're wicked by the book  
And class is back in session_

Jay sang with Wendell, _You like it, steal it  
Gotta beat 'em to the treasure_

Carlos started, _A rite of passage_

Sofia, Amber, Vivian, and James joined in, _Bad just doesn't get much better  
_  
Everyone joined in, _Long live havin' some fun  
We take what we want  
There's so many ways to be wicked  
With us evil lives on the right side of wrong  
There's so many ways to be wicked_

Candice started the bridge, _Mother always knows best_

Zoe joined in, _Show her, pass every test_

James started the next line, _Hear her voice in my head_

Wendell joined him, _Evil is the_

Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos finished the line, _Only real way to win_

The group from Auradon started, _We got all the ways to be  
_ (Sofia, Sandra, Dorrie, and Wendell shouted, _Hey, hey, hey, hey_ )  
 _W-I-C-K-E-D_

As James did some of his gymnastics, he and Jay shouted together, _Let's go!_

Vivian, Amber, Isabel, and Zoe started, We got all the ways to be  
(Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos shouted, _Hey, hey, hey, hey_ )  
 _W-I-C-K-E-D_

Sandra, Sofia, James and Candice joined in, _Long live havin' some fun  
We take what we want  
There's so many ways to be wicked  
With us evil lives on the right side of wrong  
There's so many ways to be wicked  
_  
Everyone finished the song together, _Hey, hey, hey, hey  
We got all the ways to be  
W-I-C-K-E-D  
We got all the ways to be  
W-I-C-K-E-D  
We got all the ways to be  
So many ways to be wicked_

"You came back!" Candice smiled as she and her friends came over to Evie and her friends.

"That's right," Evie smiled, "We wanted to surprise you. We also wanted to say that everything turned out all right, and we'll tell you everything."

"This sounds like an interesting story," Vivian smiled.

"Trust us, it is," Evie promised as Zoe hugged her. "And Zoe, there's someone I want you to meet." She drew a girl around Zoe's age forward. "Zoe, this is Drizella's daughter Dizzy. She's going to Auradon Prep now too."

"Hi!" Zoe greeted her.

"Do you want to play with me?" Dizzy asked.

"Sure!" Zoe grinned.

"Me too! If that's all right?" Callista grinned.

"Sure!" Dizzy smiled.

"Before you go, I've got something for you and for your friends, Princess Zoe," Mateo grinned. "I was inspired by your sister's fascination with the jaquins Elena and I rode on, so everyone hold your hands out!" He aimed his tamborita at a large sack. "Lavaloup!" Several wrapped boxes flew at Sofia and her friends. They unwrapped the packages, and each discovered a stuffed jaquin, wearing a collar with a jewel on it.

"Don't forget to ask your owls for their names," Miss Lovegood added, "Once you learn them, you become friends for life."

"I can't believe we forgot to ask them for their names when we first got them," Candice muttered.

"It's okay, Candice, we didn't know we just had to ask them what they were," Sofia reasoned, "We only thought we'd come up with a name for them ourselves."

"She's right, Candice. We'll ask them for their names right now, and - thank you! This is adorable!" Amber squealed, lifting out a green and white stuffed jaquin.

"And it's going to get even more adorable," Princess Elena grinned. "Mateo put a spell on the jaquins' collars, so all you have to do is touch the jewel in the collars, and their names will appear."

"But what about Isabel? She doesn't have one," Lucinda asked, noticing that Isabel didn't have a jaquin toy with her.

"Yes I do," Isabel smiled, "Mateo got me one for Navidad, which is what you call Wassalia, and his name was revealed to be Mingo, after my favorite baby jaquin, and he's on my bed at home."

"That's okay, Isabel, but I have to try this!" James grinned, touching the jewel on his black and white jaquin. The collar glowed, and the name appeared on a gold tag. James looked confused at first, but then he grinned. "Zebra? Oh, I get it! Zebras are black and white, like this little guy! Thank you!" He then turned to his owl, since his badge, like the girls' amulets, allowed him to talk to animals, and learned that the male Striped Owl was named Benjamin.

"Okay, when you learn your other jaquins' names, those of you with wands take them out," Mateo spoke up. "I've got a spell I want to show you." He took out his tamborita and recited, _"Illuminara Mateo wyowell!"_ He grinned as his spirit sloth Cacahaute appeared. "This is a spell to reveal your chanul, or spirit animal. Of course, you'll be using your own names when you call them!"

Lucinda smiled as she learned that her dark purple and white jaquin was named Altara. She also learned that her Rufous owl was named Rufus. "That'll be easy to remember!" she smiled. She cast the spell Mateo taught her, and her spirit guide, a crow named Ramon, appeared.

Since she already knew Arnan's name, Dorrie smiled beside her as she learned her tan Jaquin's name, Lazaro. She used Mateo's spell, and her spirit guide, a coyote named Magdalena, appeared.

Candice was right behind her with her dark yellow Jaquin, Jorgina. She also learned that her Buff-Fronted Owl's name was named Marco. When she used Mateo's spell, she met her spirit eagle Alonso.

Amber smiled at her green and white Jaquin, Emerald. "Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but Emerald and I will get along famously!" She smiled at her Spectacled Owl, Horatio. "And we will too, Horatio!" When she produced her spirit animal, she smiled at the fox. "We'll be friends as well, Maya!"

Vivian smiled as she discovered the name of her pink and white female jaquin, Dorena. "Thank you so much! She's so sweet!" She stroked her Boreal owl, and with Candice's help, learned that the owl's name was Freya. She then smiled as Aleena gave her a pink pendant she'd enchanted to let her understand animals too. She also summoned her spirit animal, a horse named Florecita.

"And it looks like Ambre has two new friends!" Sandra grinned, holding up her dark brown Jaquin, Reno, and stroking her barn owl, Marcella. When she produced her spirit animal, a wildcat named Sombrita, she smiled. "And I have a new cat! I know she's not a Patronus, but I'm okay with it."

"Ambre can play with mine too!" Zoe giggled, holding up her dark pink Jaquin Eldora with one hand, and stroking her Scops owl Lani with the other. With Mateo's help, she summoned her own spirit animal, a squirrel named Josefina.

Sofia smiled as she held her pink and purple jaquin. "Ella? That's a pretty name, and it's nice that she's partly named after one of my favorite princesses!" She also smiled as she summoned a spirit hare named Marigold.

As he watched everyone discover their jaquins' names, Wendell smiled as he learned the name of his off-white jaquin, Efren, and his tawny owl, Tanya. He used the spell Mateo taught him to summon a falcon named Carlo.

Isabel smiled as she stroked her Cape Eagle owl, and with Sofia's help, learned his name, Simon. Aleena also gave Isabel a turquoise pendant to let her talk to him. With Mateo's help, she summoned a raccoon named Astra.

From where he was watching everyone summon their spirit guides, James grinned as he summoned his, a monkey named Chico. "Brilliant!" he marveled at his spirit animal.

"At least Chico's more experienced than Bobo," Mateo whispered.

"But at least we never have to worry about Bobo again," Princess Elena whispered back, "He's too busy being King of the Zanies in the Spirit World to cause any more trouble here!"

"And if you need a second opinion, how about this?" they heard a new voice. Everyone looked up and saw Princess Elena's spirit fox Zuzo appear. "Chico and I go way back. He's really nice, and he does quote the occasional words of wisdom."

"Like what?" Sofia asked.

"Chico! Any words of wisdom for us?" Zuzo asked.

James' spirit monkey smiled and recited, "'One of the deep secrets in life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others.' Lewis Carroll."

James couldn't help but smile back, and he recited one of Queen Melinda's favorite quotes, "'The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched—they must be felt with the heart.' Helen Keller."

"Nicely done, James!" Roland smiled.

"Yeah! See, you can be deep when you want to," Amber joked.

"Oh, Amber, be nice to James," Sofia smiled.

"I am so nice to James!" Amber grinned.

"Okay, that's enough, all of you," Dorrie grinned. "What do you say we have some fun at the games Miss Lovegood set up?"

"Let's do it!" James cheered.

Everyone agreed, and went off to look at the different family games and activities that had been set up.

 **Author's Notes**

 **Thanks to Niagara14301 for helping with the details on this chapter.**

 **Thanks to Sofia2017 planning for helping with the details on this chapter.**

 **Thanks to theblindwriter95 for helping with the details on this chapter.**

 **The song Sofia and her friends did, _Ways to Be Wicked_ , is from Descendants 2, and can be found in chapter 36 of Do You Want to Sing Together XIV.**

 **Sofia, James, and Amber's stuffed Jaquins are originally from theblindwriter95's and my story Vacation in Avalor.**

 **The 'stained glass window incident' is a reference to the Sofia episode A Royal Mess.**

 **The SkyCruise 1100 brooms everyone got are similar to the Nimbus 2001 brooms the Slytherin Quidditch team had in Chamber of Secrets.**

 **Mateo and Elena's conversation about spirit animals, and his spirit sloth Cacahaute are from the Elena episode Spirit Monkey Business.**

 **Mateo's spell Lavaloup was first seen in the Elena episode Island of Youth.**

 **While it's true that Wendell was working in Enchancia Castle for a week in chapters 20-23 in Niagara14301's Dorrie Book 2, Roland wouldn't have run into him personally, but he and Wendell's mother did agree to have him working as a servant. Roland would have also heard about the different things Wendell did before he turned over a new leaf.**

 **Chico's quote is from the Criminal Minds episode Through the Looking Glass.**

 **James' quote is from the Criminal Minds episode Corazon.**


	12. Chapter 12

Before Sofia and her friends knew it, it was the last day of the workshops. They had all been having so much fun learning new spells, and even some defensive techniques, and there had been a special class taught by Professor DeRoche for Amber, James, Zoe, Vivian, Lucinda, Isabel, Wendell, and Sandra about how to care for their owls.

"I'm glad we get to keep these books," Amber said as she showed Horatio the book on Spectacled Owls.

"You know you can also ask Dorrie and I for help if you have owl-related questions too, right?" Sofia asked.

"Yes, or we can ask them what they need," James added, stroking Benjamin's head and looking through his book on Striped Owls.

"We'll have lots of time to learn about our new friends," Lucinda agreed, giving Rufus an owl treat.

"That's true, but I've been wondering about something," Sandra said as she and Marcella came up to them. "Before Grimtrix was petrified, Ruby said she and Callista knew what he was planning, but they never told us what it was."

"You know, I almost forgot about that myself," Sofia agreed. "Ruby!"

When Ruby came up to them, Sandra said, "Ruby, you said you knew what Grimtrix was planning. What did he want to do with all the students?"

Ruby thought for a few moments. The last thing she wanted to think of was being under that spell that Grimtrix had cast, but she understood that they were just curious.

"It's okay, Ruby; you know you can tell us anything," Sofia promised.

Ruby smiled a little. "Okay...I'm only going to explain this once and then I want someone to cast a spell on me that makes me forget it!"

"No problem!" Lucinda grinned.

"Okay. I remember being in that crystal prison, and then I heard Grimtrix's voice casting some kind of spell. I don't remember the words, but he said that those in the crystals were under his control," Ruby paused. "When the crystals broke, he aimed his wand at us and said something that sounded like _'memoria disappearo_...'"

"I remember that spell," James muttered, recalling the spell that someone had cast on Amber.

"Grimtrix aimed his wand at me, and I got a really cute outfit," Ruby smiled in spite of herself. "Pastel yellow and gold skirt, high pointy boots and a yellow corset top, with a cloak, choker, and a silk scarf."

"I got a new outfit too," Callista agreed, recalling the red kilt, light gray corset top, red coat, black scarf, and gray pointed boots and hat. She grinned as she remembered making the entire outfit different shades of red when she was free from the spell.

Sofia smiled at Callista's new outfit, but she asked, "Is there anything else you remember, Ruby?"

"He told us that he wanted us to capture you," Ruby frowned. "Something about bringing him an amulet."

"I told you about my amulet during our first sleepover in the castle," Sofia remembered. "You and Jade agreed to keep it a secret."

"When did you talk about that?" Amber asked.

"This was after we did our hair with pinecones and before we invited you, Hildegard, and Cleo to join us," Sofia smiled.

"That's right," Ruby agreed, "Grimtrix wouldn't tell us why he wanted your amulet, only that he wanted it. He had us break into groups and scout around the place looking for you."

Amber smiled at the explanation. "Thanks Sofia, but we have to get Grimtrix away from your amulet."

"Amber, I don't think we have to worry about Grimtrix stealing my amulet anymore," Sofia smirked, "He's been turned to stone, and the statue is in that special secure area of Hexley Hall's basement. He's also the only person in the Order of the Wand, apart from Mr. Cedric, who was interested in it."

"I guess you're right," Amber admitted.

"And now, can someone get that memory out of my head?" Ruby asked.

"No problem, Ruby," Lucinda smiled as she used her wand to extract the memory from Ruby's head, put it in a vial, and put it in her purse. "I'll use my pensieve to destroy it when we go home."

"Thank you, Lucinda," Ruby smiled.

At the same time, Wendell and Sandra were talking at the Stryker table when she asked him for a pencil.

Wendell smiled. "Here you go, and you can keep it if you want."

"Thank you, Wendell, and as promised, these are some classic lines of mine you are more than welcome to use!" Sandra grinned as she wrote them down and handed him a sheet of paper.

"I think I'll be using this one quite a bit," Wendell grinned and pointed at one of the lines, "'It was like that when I got here!'"

"If I had a dollar for every time I said _that_ when I was with Maleficent!" Candice giggled.

"I was using that one before I became Sir Finnegan's squire!" James agreed.

"And Sandra, I want to give you something too," Wendell smiled and took his wand out. _"Orchideous!"_

"Thank you, Wendell, and you remembered to make them silk!" Sandra smiled, recalling how one day during the workshops he'd given her real flowers and she had trouble for the rest of the day. She wasn't allergic to flowers, but she couldn't tolerate the smells.

Wendell smiled. "You're welcome, Sandra, and I'm sorry about the other flowers."

"Live and learn, Wendell, and it's Sandy to you," Sandra smiled as she saw a few people approach the house tables. "Aleena!"

"Hello, everyone!" Aleena greeted them.

"It's good to see you again, Miss Aleena, and I've been meaning to ask you something: When you came here, you said it was nice to be back. What house did you belong to when you were in Hexley Hall?" Amber asked.

"I was in Kennicott House," Aleena smiled. "My father was in Pepperton like you and your siblings are, Princess Amber, and my mother was in Waldgrave like Princess Sandra."

"And all of you have done your houses proud," Miss Lovegood smiled. "Now, I think the first thing we'll do is award the Hexley Hall House Cup!"

"I can't wait to see who wins!" Sofia smiled.

"You won't have long to wait, Princess Sofia," Miss Lovegood smiled. She brought out the house hourglasses, waved her wand, and numbers appeared on the top of each one. "Well! With a very strong lead by 350 points, the winner is...Pepperton House!"

Amber, James, Sofia, Lucinda, Dorrie, Candice, and Isabel cheered along with the rest of Pepperton House. The cheering continued when they learned that Waldgrave House had come in second, Stryker had come in third, and Kennicott had come in fourth.

"Congratulations, guys!" Vivian smiled.

"Yeah, and Vivian, I'm sorry I lost us that ten points for that one spell I cast, but at least Miss Lovegood was able to lift it," Sandra added, recalling how Miss Lovegood had heard Zachary still humming the song Sandra had hexed him with long after he'd been freed from Grimtrix's spell.

"Don't worry, Sandra, she still said it was a good spell and a really cute song," Vivian smiled.

Wendell nodded in agreement. "Maybe we can do this again sometime."

"Before you two say your goodbyes, I've got another surprise for you," they heard a new voice behind them. Everyone turned and saw Princess Elena and Mateo, standing beside Skylar, Migs, Luna, and three little jaquins. "Who wants to ride a jaquin? And Wendell, your mother gave you permission as long as you're careful."

"Thank you, Princess!" Wendell smiled, scratching Zoom between the wings as he landed on his shoulder.

"How adorable! Real baby jaquins!" Amber cooed, stroking Mingo.

"She's so sweet," Vivian smiled, stroking Estrella.

Sofia and her friends enjoyed a ride on the adult jaquins, then as they landed, Miss Lovegood had a grin on her face that was as wide as theirs.

"Jaquins have to be among some of the most magnificent creatures I've ever met," Miss Lovegood said happily. "I'd love to be able to fly one, just once."

Skylar, Migs, and Luna went into a huddle, and had a conversation among themselves.

"Well, she did call us magnificent," Migs was overheard to say.

"I have an idea!" Luna exclaimed as the three jaquins started whispering to each other.

Skylar then walked up to Miss Lovegood. "Dear lady, it would be my honor to take you for a ride. Please climb aboard."

"Thank you," Miss Lovegood said, pleased, as she climbed aboard Skylar.

"Do you think I could go, too?" Aleena asked.

"Climb on," Migs smiled.

He and Skylar took Miss Lovegood and Aleena on a flight around Hexley Hall. Afterward, Migs and Skylar gently landed, and Miss Lovegood and Aleena climbed off.

"That was one of the most wonderful things I've ever done," Miss Lovegood said, impressed. "I will remember this always. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

"Thank you so much!" Aleena smiled in agreement, stroking Migs, "I'll never forget this!"

"That was well done," Dorrie said in awe.

"Yes, well done, everyone," Sofia heard a new voice behind her. She looked up and motioned to her friends came over to the Pepperton table.

"I can't believe it," Aleena murmured as she broke away from Migs, "I'm meeting Annora the Witch Queen! This is such an honor! But…what do I say to her?"

"I think I know what you say to her," Sandra started, breaking away from where she'd been stroking Luna. As Aleena watched, Sandra curtsied and murmured, "Blessed be, Queen Annora."

"Well done, Princess Sandra," Annora smiled, "If I may ask, how do you know about the witch and warlock culture?"

"Dorrie, Candice, and Lucinda helped me with a project I was doing for a class at Royal Prep," Sandra replied. "I learned a lot about the witch and warlock culture."

"Well then, I think I know another way you can learn about it," Annora smiled, seeing Sandra's notebook. "I see you have your own grimoire. That will be very useful to you. Also, I'd like to give you, your sister, and your Royal Sorceress a gift. Come forward."

Aleena, Zoe, and Sandra came forward. "What's going on?" Aleena asked.

Queen Annora gently placed her wand on her shoulder. "I, Queen Annora of the Order, hereby grant unto you, Aleena Fletcher, Royal Sorceress of Orillia, the rank of Twilight Witch, with all the rights and privileges connected to that rank. Welcome to the Order, sister."

"Twilight Witch?" Zoe repeated.

"A Twilight Witch is an honorary title we give magical individuals who are not born a witch, but who are very close friends with the witch community," Annora explained.

"Like a Midnight Witch?" Sandra suggested.

No, a Midnight Witch is when a witchlet enters puberty," Annora explained. "But although you and your sister were not born with magical powers, you're both learning magic, and if I feel that a person is deserving of the title, I have the legal power to name them a Twilight Witch. Kneel, please, girls…"

When Annora had named Zoe and Sandra as Twilight Witches, she said, "I have one more surprise for you. Princess Zoe, come forward," When Zoe came up, Annora requested, "Please show me your pendant."

"Lucinda made it for me so I can talk to animals," Zoe smiled.

"And it will do more now," Annora smiled as she produced a small crystal. She put it on the necklace, and explained as the necklace gave a soft glow, "This is now the Amulet of Hesperia. Like your friends' amulets, and your sister's Amulet of Orillia, it will grant you abilities when you do good deeds, and allow you to summon princesses when needed now."

"Thank you, Queen Annora!" Zoe smiled.

"And if I may see the pendant you're wearing, Aleena," Annora continued, seeing the lavender pendant Aleena was wearing, and putting another small crystal on it. "This is now the Amulet of Leonidas. It will grant you abilities when you do good deeds, and allows you to summon a witch, warlock, or wizard when you need help."

"Thank you, Queen Annora," Aleena murmured.

"You're most welcome, Aleena," Annora smiled, turning next to James and Amber. "Prince James, Princess Amber, since you're also learning magic, the offer of being named a Twilight Witch or Wizard also extends to you."

"Maybe I will when I feel ready, Queen Annora," Amber replied, "I know I'm learning magic at Royal Prep, but I'm not quite up to your or Sofia's levels yet."

"Same for me, and I'm also involved in my knight training," James added. "I mean, that's an interesting offer…"

"Don't worry, either of you," Annora smiled. "Princess Amber, you can join the ranks of the Twilight Witches when you feel ready, and Prince James, I know you'll make a wonderful knight. In fact, I think I'll give you a gift as well, which will be quite helpful in your training…" She waved her wand, and produced a medallion with a green stone, slipping it around his neck. "This is the Medallion of Samaria. Like your badge, which allows you to communicate with animals, and summons a prince for you when needed, this will offer you additional protection, as well as protection from dark magic. It will also give you a power when you do good deeds, like the girls' amulets."

James smiled. "Brilliant! Thank you, Queen Annora! I'll be sure to be careful with this medallion."

"I know you will," Annora smiled.

"James, if you're worried about something happening to your medallion, just do what I do with my amulet and wear it under your shirt," Sandra suggested, pulling her amulet, which was really a necklace with a cross inlaid with purple crystals, out from under her blouse. "And that goes for your medallion too, Wendell."

"I'll keep that in mind," Wendell nodded. "Thanks for the idea."

"We know you'll be careful," Miss Lovegood smiled, "But let's not think about that anymore now." She waved her wand. "Let the celebration continue!"

Everyone cheered as food magically appeared on the tables. "Again I say, brilliant!" James added as everyone started helping themselves.

"And yes, Princess Sandra, I'll give you a copy of the recipes!" Miss Lovegood smirked, having learned that Sandra enjoyed cooking, and had participated in a cooking class a few days ago, and had made copies of the recipes they made.

"Thank you, Miss Lovegood! And I'll send you a copy of some of my favorite recipes," Sandra smiled.

Miss Lovegood smiled. "Thank you, Princess Sandra! I especially enjoyed your buttermilk spice cake!"

"I want the recipe for that!" Candice spoke up.

"Me too!" Isabel called.

"Okay! Anyone who wants the recipe, see me and I'll copy it for you!" Sandra grinned.

After a while, Miss Lovegood used her magic to move the tables. "All right, everyone! Now for our final event of Game Day and the workshops, let's have some music!"

Everyone cheered, but Amber said, "James, you will not just commandeer the karaoke machine, you're going to dance with us too!"

"Does this mean I have to dance too?" Sandra asked, since she was thinking along the same line as James.

Wendell grinned as he took her hand. "Yes it does!"

As the music started, Sofia said, "Shall we dance, James?"

"And you're dancing with me too!" Vivian grinned.

"If I must," James sighed in mock defeat.

"You must!" Vivian and Sofia giggled as one of his favorite songs started.

James smiled as he started singing as they danced together. "Okay, ladies, let's dance!"

After a long time, the students and Game Day participants started going in different groups to go home. However, Sandra, Zoe, Vivian, Ruby, Jade, and Isabel were going with Sofia, Amber, Lucinda, Dorrie, Candice, and Callista to the castle for a girls' night sleepover, while Wendell was going with James to the castle for a boys' night sleepover.

As he and James listened to the girls having fun in the observatory, Wendell smiled. He was happy he'd turned over a new leaf and made several new friends. He was also thinking about how lucky he was that he was now friends with Sandra, especially considering how they'd first met.

James noticed his look and grinned. "Come with me, Wendell!"

At the same time, Sandra was thinking about the adventure she and Wendell had shared. She was happy he'd become a better person, and how they were able to work through their original differences.

"He's a nice guy, isn't he?" Candice asked, seeing her lost in thought.

"He's not so bad once I got to know him," Sandra shrugged, but Candice didn't miss the little smile she had.

"Well, it looks like we're going to see him again!" Dorrie grinned as she let James and Wendell join them.

"Hello, ladies!" Wendell smiled, "Room for two more?"

"How does that phrase of Mom's go again, the more the merrier?" Sofia smiled. "We were just about to do some more karaoke...and it's for everyone…James, Sandra!"

"Okay, everyone can have a turn!" James grinned as Sandra nodded in agreement.

"Great! Let's get started!'' Sofia grinned.

Everyone cheered as the music started and they all sang the first song together. When the next song began, Callista smiled. "I know who should sing the next one!"

"Me too!" James added.

Before they knew what was happening, Wendell and Sandra were at the front of the room. "Is this some kind of hint?" Sandra smirked.

"I think so," Wendell smirked as Zoe brought up a CD.

"Okay, Wendell, I'm game if you are," Sandra said as she took the microphone Callista gave her.

"I'm always up for a challenge," Wendell smiled.

Callista grinned. "Okay! And I know a great song for you!"

She started the music, and everyone, including Wendell and Sandra, couldn't help but laugh when they recognized the song. "Like I said, is this some kind of hint?" Sandra asked.

"Yes!" Zoe grinned.

"Okay, but only if all of you join us!" Wendell smirked.

"Okay!" Sofia smiled as everyone cheered in agreement.

Wendell smiled as he and Sandra took up their microphones again. As they started the song, they agreed that their adventure had been fun, and as their friends joined in, they couldn't help but wonder if they'd get together for more adventures.

The End

 **Author's notes**

 **Thanks to sofia2017 planning for helping me write this chapter.**

 **Thanks to Niagara14301 for helping with some of the details for this chapter.**

 ** _Memoria disappearo_** **was a spell that was first used in my story The Missing Memory Mystery.**

 **"It was like that when I got here", one of three rules a squire should know, was first mentioned in chapter 6 of my story The Rise and Fall of Eze Gray. Candice would also know this rule thanks to the events of chapter 26 of Niagara14301's Tales from the Castle.**

 ** _Orchideous_** **is from Harry Potter.**

 **Sandra's knowledge of the witch and warlock greeting "Blessed be" is from chapter 43 of Niagara14301's story Dorrie.**

 **If anyone is interested in the buttermilk spice cake recipe, PM me and I'll send it to you.**

 **Well, another story has come to an end. Thank you for reading and reviewing. I had fun writing this, and I hope you had fun reading it.**


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